Basketball at Iowa State brings familiar images: a Jacy Holloway-to-Kelvin Cato alley-oop, a Dedric Willoughby three-pointer, a Stevie Johnson dunk. Last year, the ISU men’s basketball team won national praise after an impressive NCAA tournament run and a mid-season ranking of fourth in the country.

This year, Cyclone basketball is looking for a similar run. But the featured players won’t be Willoughby, Pratt and Cato. Now they’ll be Olson, Grimm and Taylor.

That’s right. The ISU women’s basketball team is outshining the acclaimed men’s team. The women’s team is having a great year. So far, they’re 7-1, including a 61-58 win over Alabama, a nationally ranked team.

The Cyclones are over-powering opponents, beating Minnesota 86-69 and Truman State 93-60, using defense and amazing outside shooting.

The women are are having great individual years as well, with seniors Jayme Olson and Janel Grimm continuing to impress and freshman Megan Taylor and sophomore Stacy Frese coming on strong.

The Cyclones’ success is indicative of women all over the country, in many different sports, who are having stand-out seasons. From soccer to hockey to basketball, women are leaving their mark.

The WNBA was extremely successful in its first year. Women in hockey also are making a national name for themselves, as the USA Women’s National Team is playing a Canadian team in a televised game on Dec. 17, a first for the sport.

Just one question: where are the fans? The attendance at ISU games has averaged 955 people during the first three home games, about seven percent of the 14,020 Hilton capacity.

Let’s show the Cyclone women we appreciate their hard work and show up to cheer them on to a record-setting season.