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Cyclones, local celebrities in Ames, prep for Lehigh
By Ben Gouldsmith
Date Posted: 2010-03-20
Kelsey Bolte gets the stares at Village Inn. Alison Lacey sees the sideways glances at Hy-Vee. And Shellie Mosman usually gets a nod or two roaming the aisles at Target.
“You’ll hear whispers like, ‘She’s on the basketball team,’” said Bolte, a junior guard.
Indeed, Bolte, Lacey and Mosman play for Iowa State.
And the Cyclones’ sustained success has a lot to do with the attention they receive in public.
No. 16 ISU (23-7) opens the NCAA tournament against Lehigh (29-3) at 8:30 tonight at Hilton Coliseum.
It’s the fourth straight season the Cyclones have qualified for the tournament. And it’s the fourth straight season of 20-plus wins.
Along with the winning has come attention. Lots and lots of attention.
“If you’re at Hy-Vee or Target, you’re going to get a smile or a comment or questions,” said Lacey, a senior point guard. “Not often do you go out and not have someone come up and talk to you.”
Those same people flock to Hilton in droves.
ISU averaged 9,633 fans per home game during the regular season, the third highest average attendance in the nation behind Tennessee and Connecticut.
“Whether you’re a starter or not, all the fans just embrace our team,” said Mosman, a senior guard.
“This community embraces our team. They feel like they know every single person individually, and they love each and every one of us. It’s a really neat experience.”
Mosman would know. She rarely plays, but many fans can pick her out of a crowd in public.
It’s not like that everywhere.
Lehigh, the Patriot League champion, has won 16 straight games going into tonight’s matchup with ISU.
Yet the Mountain Hawks play in relative anonymity. An average crowd of 834 watched their home games at Stabler Arena in Bethlehem, Pa., this season.
Debbie Ryan, Virginia’s 33rd-year coach, said ISU coach Bill Fennelly deserves credit for putting an entertaining product on the floor year after year.
“He takes players that are under the radar a little bit, and he makes them great players by the time they leave here,” said Ryan, whose Cavaliers play Green Bay at 6:20 tonight at Hilton.
This season, the Cyclones were picked to finish seventh in the Big 12 Conference preseason coaches’ poll. Instead, they tied a school record for regular-season wins, garnering the No. 2 seed at last week’s league tournament.
The reward was another NCAA tournament bid, the 11th during Fennelly’s 15 seasons in Ames.
“It’s not just what our team has done, it’s what all the teams that have come before us have done,” said Mosman, a Carroll native who grew up attending ISU games. “It’s just a tradition here at Iowa State.”
NCAA tournament first and second rounds
At Hilton Coliseum
Sunday, March 21
Virginia (21-9) vs. Green Bay (27-4), 6:20 p.m.
Iowa State (23-7) vs. Lehigh (29-3), 8:30 p.m.
Tuesday, March 23
Virginia-Green Bay winner vs. ISU-Lehigh winner, 8:30 p.m.
Ben Gouldsmith can be reached at (515) 663-6931 or bgouldsmith@amestrib.com.
By Ben Gouldsmith
Date Posted: 2010-03-20
Iowa State coach Bill Fennelly, shown during Saturday's practice at Hilton Coliseum, has led the Cyclones to four straight NCAA tournament appearances.
Tribune photo Nirmalendu Majumdar
Tribune photo Nirmalendu Majumdar
Kelsey Bolte gets the stares at Village Inn. Alison Lacey sees the sideways glances at Hy-Vee. And Shellie Mosman usually gets a nod or two roaming the aisles at Target.
“You’ll hear whispers like, ‘She’s on the basketball team,’” said Bolte, a junior guard.
Indeed, Bolte, Lacey and Mosman play for Iowa State.
And the Cyclones’ sustained success has a lot to do with the attention they receive in public.
No. 16 ISU (23-7) opens the NCAA tournament against Lehigh (29-3) at 8:30 tonight at Hilton Coliseum.
It’s the fourth straight season the Cyclones have qualified for the tournament. And it’s the fourth straight season of 20-plus wins.
Along with the winning has come attention. Lots and lots of attention.
“If you’re at Hy-Vee or Target, you’re going to get a smile or a comment or questions,” said Lacey, a senior point guard. “Not often do you go out and not have someone come up and talk to you.”
Those same people flock to Hilton in droves.
ISU averaged 9,633 fans per home game during the regular season, the third highest average attendance in the nation behind Tennessee and Connecticut.
“Whether you’re a starter or not, all the fans just embrace our team,” said Mosman, a senior guard.
“This community embraces our team. They feel like they know every single person individually, and they love each and every one of us. It’s a really neat experience.”
Mosman would know. She rarely plays, but many fans can pick her out of a crowd in public.
It’s not like that everywhere.
Lehigh, the Patriot League champion, has won 16 straight games going into tonight’s matchup with ISU.
Yet the Mountain Hawks play in relative anonymity. An average crowd of 834 watched their home games at Stabler Arena in Bethlehem, Pa., this season.
Debbie Ryan, Virginia’s 33rd-year coach, said ISU coach Bill Fennelly deserves credit for putting an entertaining product on the floor year after year.
“He takes players that are under the radar a little bit, and he makes them great players by the time they leave here,” said Ryan, whose Cavaliers play Green Bay at 6:20 tonight at Hilton.
This season, the Cyclones were picked to finish seventh in the Big 12 Conference preseason coaches’ poll. Instead, they tied a school record for regular-season wins, garnering the No. 2 seed at last week’s league tournament.
The reward was another NCAA tournament bid, the 11th during Fennelly’s 15 seasons in Ames.
“It’s not just what our team has done, it’s what all the teams that have come before us have done,” said Mosman, a Carroll native who grew up attending ISU games. “It’s just a tradition here at Iowa State.”
NCAA tournament first and second rounds
At Hilton Coliseum
Sunday, March 21
Virginia (21-9) vs. Green Bay (27-4), 6:20 p.m.
Iowa State (23-7) vs. Lehigh (29-3), 8:30 p.m.
Tuesday, March 23
Virginia-Green Bay winner vs. ISU-Lehigh winner, 8:30 p.m.
Ben Gouldsmith can be reached at (515) 663-6931 or bgouldsmith@amestrib.com.
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