Williams Blog: Thoughts on Lehigh, UCONN

By Chris Williams, CycloneFanatic.com Publisher

Where will you be at 8:30 Sunday night? If it is at all possible, you need to get to Hilton Coliseum. Last night, the Iowa State women’s basketball team learned their fate for the 2010 NCAA Tournament. The Cyclones got a four-seed where they will take on the Patriot League champions, Lehigh (29-3).

The top two stories coming out of last night were simple. The first is that the Cyclones got stuck in UCONN’s region. Many Cyclone fans feel jaded about this today and rightfully so.

The second story is the status of Alison Lacey for Sunday night.

Let’s start with UCONN. It was expected for the Huskies to be the hot topic today on the tongues of Cyclone fans. Go ahead and talk about UCONN Fanatics. That’s what you are supposed to do. Talk about the future. Just don’t expect Bill Fennelly to do the same.

“I’m not answering any UCONN questions,” Fennelly told reporters last night. “I’m not going to talk about it. If we are lucky enough to win two games I’ll sit up all night and talk about anything you want UCONN. Anyone who has been through this before knows you can’t look past anyone, and no one is going to do that.”

Should the Cyclones get past Lehigh in the first round, they’ll more than likely face the five-seed Virginia in round number two. Virginia will meet Wisconsin-Green Bay in the first round.

Lehigh’s 29-3 record makes them a very formidable opponent for Iowa State on Sunday. That’s an awfully impressive mark for any team in any league. I won’t take that away from them. But keep in mind that they only played three games all season long against teams in the RPI’s top 100.

"You win 29 games, and you are doing something right,” Fennelly said. “We’ll spend a long night tonight trying to get information. The challenge of playing someone new is always fun. We’ll do the best we can to get ready.”

As for Alison Lacey? Good news Fanatics. She’s ready to go.

“You couldn’t keep me off the floor if you wanted to,” Lacey said. “I feel really good. Each day I’m getting better.”