Iowa State Cyclones women’s basketball head coach Bill Fennelly talks to media in a low voice due to his throat complication after the NCAA women’s basketball selection show at Hilton Coliseum on Sunday, March 17, 2024, in Ames, Iowa. © Nirmalendu Majumdar/Ames Tribune / USA TODAY NETWORK
AMES — Iowa State head coach Bill Fennelly chuckled slightly when he saw who his team would play to begin the NCAA Tournament.
“The committee has a sense of humor,” he said.
That’s because the seventh-seeded Cyclones (20-11) will face No. 10 seed Maryland (19-13) at 6:30 p.m. Friday in Palo Alto, Calif. And the Terrapins are coached by one of his former assistants, Brenda Frese, who has built that program into a powerhouse for the past 22 seasons.
“Brenda’a part of the family,” Fennelly said. “Brenda started this with me. A Hall of Fame coach. A Hall of Fame person. Phenomenal family.”
Frese has led Maryland to an NCAA championship (2006), seven Elite Eights and three Final Fours. The Terrapins reached the Elite Eight last season and recently beat fourth-ranked Ohio State by 21 points.
“Brenda’s teams are always the same: skilled, tough,” said Fennelly, whose young team won six games in a row before falling to No. 1 seed Texas in the Big 12 Tournament championship. “They’re gonna be a tough out every time. But I’m happy for our kids, obviously. We get to play. This never gets old. It’s hard. People think this is easy. I mean, you look at teams in our league and there are a lot of kids that never play in this tournament.”
ISU will feature seven key contributors who have never played in the Division I NCAA Tournament. That lengthy list of postseason rookies includes five freshmen, but it also includes transfers Isnelle Natabou (from Sacramento State) and Hannah Belanger (from Division II Truman State).
“This is the whole reason why I wanted to come here,” said Belanger, who is shooting 40.1 percent from 3-point range in the past seven games. “I made it (in Division II) one time before at Truman and we lost the very first game, so hopefully it doesn’t go like that, but I definitely wanted to experience playing at a high level and whether that was the (Big 12) championship game in (Kansas City), or making the tournament, I think this was everything I dreamed of.”
Same goes for forward Addy Brown, who earned a spot on the Big 12’s all-freshman team.
“Growing up and watching the tournament, that’s what you look forward to with March Madness and filling out your bracket,” said Brown, who also attained all-Big 12 honorable mention honors. “So it’s kind of like it hasn’t hit me yet that I’m finally getting to play in it, but that’s a goal I’m gonna have every single year, is get to the tournament and play well. It’s just one step, one year down.”
Last season, ISU fell in the first round, but if it can get by the Terrapins on Friday, a daunting matchup with host Stanford — a No. 2 seed — looms on Sunday. The Cyclones, however, already boast two top-10 wins this season, so no matter the opponent, the site, or the stage, they expect to be ready.
“It’s big that they earned this,” Fennelly said. “But I also think, you know, you want them to be excited about it (and) understand how hard it was, but don’t assume it’s gonna happen every year. That’s the biggest thing. Right now, it’s go to work tomorrow, play — and March is so unique. Play to the end and when it’s over, make sure you did it the right way.”
