Iowa State Cyclones guard Hannah Belanger (13) celebrates with forward Addy Brown (24) and guard Arianna Jackson (2) during the third quarter of a NCAA women’s basketball at Hilton Coliseum on March 2, 2024, in Ames, Iowa. © Nirmalendu Majumdar/Ames Tribune / USA TODAY NETWORK
AMES – Iowa State will travel to California to face Maryland in the first round of the NCAA Tournament this week, carrying a familiar message with itself.
The Cyclones shocked the Big 12 at the start of the season, beginning the year with a 6-0 mark in conference play after a 7-4 record in the non-conference. That was partially due to the mentality Iowa State has developed over the year, despite an inexperienced team.
“Honestly, we just feel like fire,” freshman guard Addy Brown said. “Just being the underdog all year just keeps us going, knowing that people are still sleeping on us. It’s not about me proving people wrong, but it’s more about proving us right. We came into (the postseason) knowing like, ‘we can beat this team, and we can do big things.’ We’re just proving ourselves right.”
That helped the Cyclones as well, in getting to Tuesday’s Big 12 championship in Kansas City.
Iowa State coach Bill Fennelly will see a familiar face on the opposite sideline, with his former assistant coach Brenda Freese being the head coach at Maryland since 2002.
“The committee has a sense of humor,” Fennelly said. “Obviously, they did it with the guy’s, too. Brenda’s part of my family. Brenda started this with me. She’s a hall of fame coach and (is part of) a hall of fame family.”
Freese was in Ames as an assistant coach under Fennelly from 1995-1999 and spent years at Ball State and Minnesota before taking the Maryland job.
Her sister, Stacy Freese, played under the pair during the 1998-99 season in one of her two years at Iowa State.
“We’ll see what jersey Stacy has on for the game,” Fennelly said. “It’s not good, but at the end of the game, I’ll be happy that one of us won.”
Iowa State saw a similar situation play out last year, when the No. 5 Cyclones faced off against Toledo – the program where Fennelly got his start.
It led to a first round exit.
The Cyclones did take some solace in being able to give the group a pair of off-days during the week, to take advantage of an earlier conference championship compared to in year’s past.
That’s given Fennelly more confidence moving forward with this year’s tournament.
“Last year, we were worn out,” Fennelly said. “(We) didn’t play well. I think we’ve handled it better this year. We’ve given our kids a lot of rest. I think for our team, it’s good. We were out of gas at the end, but I think a lot of team’s are. You want to start over, re-boot it, and get your work done.”
Now, Iowa State will prepare for its 22nd NCAA Tournament in Fennelly’s 29th season at the helm of the program.
“You want to understand how hard it was (to make an NCAA Tournament), and don’t assume it’s going to happen every year,” Fennelly said. “Like yeah, we’ve had 20+ teams make an NCAA tournament, but not this team. Not these guys.”
