AMES — Following a 20-11 season, the Iowa State women’s basketball team will face Maryland in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament. The Cyclones finished fourth in the regular season in the Big 12 and were runner-up to Texas in the Big 12 Tournament.
“It never gets old,” Iowa State head coach Bill Fennelly said. “This is their time, their moment. I always tell them you can’t repeat this.”
Iowa State was one of seven Big 12 schools to get a ticket to the Big Dance. The Cyclones are a seven-seed and could face No. 2-seeded Stanford in Stanford’s arena if they win.
“The Big 12 is very well represented,” Addy Brown said. “Every game was a battle. There was never an easy game when we played. So that’s going to help us going into the tournament.”
It was a long wait for Iowa State on Selection Sunday. The Cyclones’ game was the last one to be announced in the entire broadcast.
“It was pretty anxious,” Brown said. “Once our name got called it was a relief, but just excited to see where we ended up. Emily Ryan guessed it right, so she has a future in bracketology.”
The bid to the tournament comes in a season that featured many new faces for Iowa State. Five freshmen and a couple of transfer players highlighted the changes the team saw after last season.
“We were one of the Division I teams with the least amount of experience,” Hannah Belanger said. “From the jump, we kind of were the underdogs.”
Everyone stepped up in big ways to get Iowa State back to the tournament. Now, the young group will get their chance on the NCAA’s biggest stage to prove their worth once again.
This will be the first NCAA Division I Tournament for not only the five freshmen but for senior Belanger as well. Belanger played at Truman State for four seasons and made the Division II Tournament once.
“I’m pretty excited,” Belanger said. “My journey’s been so crazy.”
The Big 12 Tournament run was viewed by many players as a precursor to March Madness. All three teams Iowa State faced in Kansas City, Missouri, made the NCAA Tournament.
“Facing that type of competition and understanding that if we do lose another game we will be done, I think that kind of put things into perspective for us,” Belanger said.
In his 29 seasons as head coach, this is the 22nd time in Bill Fennelly’s coaching career at Iowa State that the Cyclones have made the NCAA Tournament. He said of all of the times that his teams have made the Big Dance, this one was the most impressive, given the team’s youth.
“It’s a big deal,” Fennelly said. “I am so proud of our team and staff. They’ve never done a better job than this year.”
Iowa State gets its tournament run started against Maryland. The date and time of the game is still to be determined. The winner will face Stanford or Norfolk State in the second round.
