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ISU Beats UCONN Retrospective

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WBBfan15

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I saw this nice writeup of the 25th (!) anniversary of ISU beating UCONN in the NCAA Tournament. I thought others might enjoy the look back.

forevertrueisu.wordpress.com

‘It was the right group of people at the right time’: 25 years ago, Bill Fennelly led a group of hungry Cyclones to a historic upset of UConn

Iowa State post player Monica Huelman didn’t hesitant to pull the trigger. The junior from Vinton, Iowa, who was head coach Bill Fennelly’s first recruit at Iowa State, found the ball above the key…
forevertrueisu.wordpress.com forevertrueisu.wordpress.com
 
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CycloneRulzzz said:
Man I don't remember being down by so much against Santa Clara.


It's still so devastating that we lost Mo at just 40 years old. She literally is the foundation of what ISU wbb is today.
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Her dad was my gym teacher, JH football and basketball coach. Plus drivers ed instructor. He was 6'9 and a big man to boot. Good sense of humor. ( back and forth give each other **** type of guy) drivers ed car had a bench seat so I always moved it up a bit move than I needed to.

Didn't know she had passed, way too young for sure.
 
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You can still watch that game on cyclones.tv. Just select "On Demand" then filter for "Women's Basketball" and Category "Cyclone Classics" It's on the top line of selections on my computer.
 
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I remember this all so well. Our Power of the Pops crew seriously contemplated going to Cincinnati but couldn’t get the time off from work to make it happen. Watching those first two games in a packed Hilton was phenominal, but for me the beginning was the year before when there was a huge crowd for the dance. The following of women's basketball at ISU was born.
 
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acoustimac said:
I remember this all so well. Our Power of the Pops crew seriously contemplated going to Cincinnati but couldn’t get the time off from work to make it happen. Watching those first two games in a packed Hilton was phenominal, but for me the beginning was the year before when there was a huge crowd for the dance. The following of women's basketball at ISU was born.
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I was there for the UCONN game but couldn't or didn't want to miss school so we left after that game. Big regret I have to this day even with the result we had against Georgia.
 
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The UConn game was on a channel the dorm cable package didn't have (probably ESPN2 or ESPNU), so I watched it with a few dozen people on the display TVs at the North Grand Sears.

I watched the Georgia game at a local restaurant for the same reason -- I don't remember much as Kaleidoquiz had just finished and I had been awake for about 36 straight hours at that point.

EDIT: Scratch that last paragraph. That was the 2001 loss to Vandy. I was off by two years. I remember watching the Georgia game on TV but don't recall where.
 
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Ten years later, our second trip to Elite Eight against Stanford's Jayne Appel (wonder where she disappeared to?) and WNBA great Ogwumike was a monumental challenge and resulted in a resounding loss. Appel, as I recall, was toughest on us.



I remember the 2009 NCAA Tourney better than 1999 as I was too busy working, raising, kids, and some distance from Ames for the earlier season. It was a brilliant time with with Sweet 16 upset of Michigan State and their tall star.

I journeyed to Hilton a lot then to see my all-time favorite Lacey play. Coming out of Huxley (in 2011 we'd suffer a losing battle again with Stanford for Taylor Greenfield's commitment out of Huxley), Alison was an Iowa State star on a pretty cohesive tough-minded team with few tall players.
 
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Went to Cincy and watched both games. Those darn twins from Rochester Minn helped Georgia beat us. Closest we ever came to a final four.
Pretty sure Bill is .500 against Geno.
 
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The bar that held the pep rally in Cincy just got swamped by ISU fans. I got there a little early to hold a booth for my friends. There was a couple that came in to grab a bite half way through their meal the entire bar was full and it was SRO.
 
StClone said:
Ten years later, our second trip to Elite Eight against Stanford's Jayne Appel (wonder where she disappeared to?) and WNBA great Ogwumike was a monumental challenge and resulted in a resounding loss. Appel, as I recall, was toughest on us.



I remember the 2009 NCAA Tourney better than 1999 as I was too busy working, raising, kids, and some distance from Ames for the earlier season. It was a brilliant time with with Sweet 16 upset of Michigan State and their tall star.

I journeyed to Hilton a lot then to see my all-time favorite Lacey play. Coming out of Huxley (in 2011 we'd suffer a losing battle again with Stanford for Taylor Greenfield's commitment out of Huxley), Alison was an Iowa State star on a pretty cohesive tough-minded team with few tall players.
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Really enjoyed Alison. During her senior night game I brought an Australian flag to wave which she seemed to enjoy.
 
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StClone said:
Ten years later, our second trip to Elite Eight against Stanford's Jayne Appel (wonder where she disappeared to?) and WNBA great Ogwumike was a monumental challenge and resulted in a resounding loss. Appel, as I recall, was toughest on us.



I remember the 2009 NCAA Tourney better than 1999 as I was too busy working, raising, kids, and some distance from Ames for the earlier season. It was a brilliant time with with Sweet 16 upset of Michigan State and their tall star.

I journeyed to Hilton a lot then to see my all-time favorite Lacey play. Coming out of Huxley (in 2011 we'd suffer a losing battle again with Stanford for Taylor Greenfield's commitment out of Huxley), Alison was an Iowa State star on a pretty cohesive tough-minded team with few tall players.
Click to expand...

I remember this tournament run better too, as I was in middle school for the win over UConn. I fell off my friend's couch when Aus made that 3!
 
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WBBfan15 said:
I saw this nice writeup of the 25th (!) anniversary of ISU beating UCONN in the NCAA Tournament. I thought others might enjoy the look back.

forevertrueisu.wordpress.com

‘It was the right group of people at the right time’: 25 years ago, Bill Fennelly led a group of hungry Cyclones to a historic upset of UConn

Iowa State post player Monica Huelman didn’t hesitant to pull the trigger. The junior from Vinton, Iowa, who was head coach Bill Fennelly’s first recruit at Iowa State, found the ball above the key…
forevertrueisu.wordpress.com forevertrueisu.wordpress.com
Click to expand...
On the 1999 team were several other all-time favorite players and hard to pick one. Gahan was one I'd select if forced.
 
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StClone said:
Ten years later, our second trip to Elite Eight against Stanford's Jayne Appel (wonder where she disappeared to?) and WNBA great Ogwumike was a monumental challenge and resulted in a resounding loss. Appel, as I recall, was toughest on us.



I remember the 2009 NCAA Tourney better than 1999 as I was too busy working, raising, kids, and some distance from Ames for the earlier season. It was a brilliant time with with Sweet 16 upset of Michigan State and their tall star.

I journeyed to Hilton a lot then to see my all-time favorite Lacey play. Coming out of Huxley (in 2011 we'd suffer a losing battle again with Stanford for Taylor Greenfield's commitment out of Huxley), Alison was an Iowa State star on a pretty cohesive tough-minded team with few tall players.
Click to expand...


I was hoping stands would catch Heather's mom and my Ezell Trey Tracker sign (which I made and sent it with her since I couldn't go to the postseason games) counted her career 3's which at the time she was chasing to be the career leader.

I did a similar countdown board sign for Medders when she at the time took over the assist record.
 
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CycloneRulzzz said:
I was hoping stands would catch Heather's mom and my Ezell Trey Tracker sign (which I made and sent it with her since I couldn't go to the postseason games) counted her career 3's which at the time she was chasing to be the career leader.

I did a similar countdown board sign for Medders when she at the time took over the assist record.
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The Big EZ's folks were great people. Sadly she lost her dad in Dec ‘22.
 
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