The almost 900 fans gathered at Hilton Coliseum Tuesday at noon when the bus carrying the Iowa State women’s basketball team arrived weren’t there to lament ISU’s season-ending loss to Georgia on Monday night.

They were there to congratulate the team on being the first ISU squad to reach the Elite Eight, to thank the players for the excitement they inspired in their supporters and to look ahead.

Pete Taylor, play-by-play man for the Cyclone Radio Network, was the first to offer his congratulations to the team.

“I can’t wait to see the flag go up there,” he said, gesturing toward the rafters, “that says ‘Elite Eight.'”

When Taylor introduced head coach Bill Fennelly, he made a felicitous observation about the success Fennelly has brought to the program since his arrival in Ames four years ago.

“When he first showed up here, this would have been a pretty good crowd,” Taylor said of the throng of supporters who were on hand to welcome the team home. “Now this many people turn out for the pep rallies.”

Fennelly described this season as “the best year of my coaching life.”

“This is a great ending to what has been a phenomenal season,” Fennelly said.

“Phenomenal” seems an appropriate word to describe a season marked by a 25-8 record, the second-highest three-point shooting percentage in the country, a 64-58 upset over fourth-ranked University of Connecticut and a myriad of individual awards and honors.

However, Fennelly told the crowd, “The No. 1 thing you should all be proud of is the way they represented ISU on and off the court.”

He said some of the less-recognized contributions of the players include the positive attention they bring to women’s athletics at ISU and the role models they provide for the many children who follow their games.

“The true measure of what this team has done was not measured on the scoreboard last night,” he said.

Vice President for Student Affairs Thomas Hill told the team the ISU community is “awfully, awfully proud of you.”

“There were students glued to their TVs,” he said. “Everybody, everywhere was watching everything you do.”

Ames Mayor Ted Tedesco echoed Hill’s sentiments of pride in the team and thanked the players for the inspiration they brought to community members.

“You have captured the hearts of all Iowans,” Tedesco said. “We live and die with every play … every newspaper article … every recruiting report.”

Junior Monica Huelman, who has been on the team longer than any of the other current players, said Tuesday evening that the ever-growing fan base was one of the biggest turnarounds since her first year with the program.

“When we went down to Iowa was the first time it really touched us,” Huelman said. “We knew it was a big rivalry, but we couldn’t believe all those people came down.”

Stacy Frese recalls attending games two years ago, while sitting out her first season at ISU.

“I remember coming to the games, and there was hardly anybody there,” Frese said.

She said she was amazed by the number of fans who followed the team to Cincinnati for the tournament games.

“UConn and Georgia are the big names [in women’s basketball], but our fans were as good as theirs,” she said.

With the 1998-99 season behind it and a roster with no departing players, the team is looking to the future.

“This year, we were kind of unsure of ourselves because we have such a young team. Now we know we can play with the best teams in the country,” Frese said. “We’ll be able to set our goals a lot higher. I think anything is possible.”

Huelman said any skepticism about the team’s potential comes from outside.

“We have very high expectations for ourselves. It’s always in the back of our mind that we want to prove to everybody that we are good,” she said. “Doubts come from other teams, other people … We never doubt ourselves.”

Fennelly also is confident in his team’s abilities.

“Someone asked me … if I thought we were really one of the eight best teams in the nation,” he said. “My answer was, ‘Damn right, I do.'”