When the Cyclones take the court tonight for their first-round NCAA tournament contest versus Santa Clara, they realize that nothing is set in stone.

As many Iowa State opponents have found in the past, ratings mean next to nothing when you face a team that can hit the big outside shot, as the Broncos can.

“If there are two words to describe our team, they’re ‘team unity,'” head coach Caren Horstmeyer said. “One of our biggest strengths is our unselfishness. We have players that can hit threes, but our goal at gametime will be to find the open shooter.”

Santa Clara enters the game as the No. 13 seed in the East, compared to ISU, which is the No. 4 seed.

The Broncos feature a balanced long-range offensive attack, ranking first in the West Coast Conference in scoring (71.9), field goal percentage (44.2), free throw percentage (72.8), three point percentage (38.6) and scoring margin (+12.6).

Eight players on the current roster average over five points per game, with sophomore Annie Garrison leading the way with 12.

Senior Brook Staebell averages 10.1 points, Katie Pursley 9.6 points, Stephanie Rogers 9.5 points, Jessica Banford 7.8 points, Becki Ashbaugh 6.9 points, Katie Swank 5.6 points and Ashley Hill 5.2 points.

This scoring diversity, if anything, could give coach Bill Fennelly fits because there isn’t one “weapon” for him to take away.

“I’m sure Fennelly will have some plan of attack,” Horstmeyer said. “But we’re pretty balanced with a number of players that can score. I’m not sure that there is one thing to take away.”

In addition, the pesky Bronco man-to-man defense is nationally renowned.

“Santa Clara presents a lot of challenges,” Fennelly said. “They’re a great half-court defensive team, and they’re one of the best low-percentage defenses in the country.”

Santa Clara held teams this season to an amazing 36.2 percent from the floor, the eighth lowest percentage in the NCAA. They also held opposing sharpshooters to just 24.8 percent from beyond the arc while pulling down a WCC-high 40 rebounds per game compared to just 35.8 for their opponents.

“To beat us,” Fennelly said, “they’ll have to guard Stacy very well, they’ll have to take away our three-point game, and they’ll have to make us turn the ball over. If they can hold us to their [36.2] percent, they have a great chance to win.”

Garrison was a unanimous first-team all-conference selection in addition to being named the WCC’s Defender of the Year.

At 6 feet, 3 inches, she pulled down a team-high 7.7 rebounds per game and finished the season with 28 steals and an incredible 71 blocks.

Six-foot 2-inch forward Staebell averaged 6.3 rebounds per game and managed a season total of 20 blocked shots.

As a team, Santa Clara held seven opponents under 30 percent shooting on the defensive end while burying 157 three pointers on the offensive side of things.

Rogers led the three-point barrage by converting 47, while Banford led the team in percentage with 45.5 percent.

Santa Clara won 22 games this year, losing only six in the process.

The Broncos opened the season with an eight-game winning streak, posted an impressive 81-65 win over No. 24 Stanford and came closer to knocking off a top ten opponent than did ISU, falling to No. 9 Colorado State, 66-65.

The Broncos and coach Horstmeyer are looking forward to extending their season against the Cyclones.

“They’re a very talented, well-balanced team,” Horstmeyer said. “We’ll play defense and stay concerned with [our own performance] and play the same way we would against anybody.”

In addition, the Broncos don’t seem intimidated by the estimated sell-out crowd.

“Our team is very excited to play in front of a big crowd,” Staebell said. “We’ll have to focus harder, but it’s a lot of fun.”

“We take that as a positive,” Horstmeyer said. “That’s what the NCAA is all about. The larger the crowd, the more fun it is. Obviously, you’d like it to be your crowd, but we look forward to this.”