|
|
 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
Welle on their way Iowa State defeats Oregon to advance to Sweet 16
Posted: Monday March 15, 1999 01:26 AM
AMES, Iowa (AP) -- Oregon wanted to stop Iowa State's Stacy Frese and the Ducks succeeded. They weren't nearly as successful with Frese's teammates. Iowa State got 21 points from freshman center Angie Welle and relied on balance and rebounding to beat Oregon 85-70 Sunday night in the second round of the NCAA tournament. Oregon focused its defense on Frese and held her to 12 points after she had scored 31 in a first-round victory over Santa Clara. But all that did was create openings for the other Iowa State players and they capitalized as the Cyclones (24-7) reached the round of 16 for the first time. "They were trying to concentrate on certain players, and I don't think you can do that on this team," Frese said. "I think we have too many weapons." No. 4 seed Iowa State, which had never been in the NCAA tournament prior to 1997, will play top-seeded Connecticut in the Mideast Regional semifinals in Cincinnati, Ohio, next Saturday. Connecticut advanced with an 86-84 victory over Xavier. "I think there isn't any place in the world I'd rather be going than Cincinnati, Ohio, right now," Iowa State coach Bill Fennelly said. "I've been coaching 24 years, and I told my wife, one time, I'd like to get in the Sweet 16 before I die, and that was the best present they've ever given me. It's an honor and we're looking forward to it." Desiree Francis added 19 points for Iowa State, Megan Taylor scored 12 and Tracy Gahan 10. Jenny Mowe made all nine of her shots in leading Oregon (25-6) with a career-high 20 points. "I thought we did a nice job with Stacy, but their post players did a nice job against our post players and really got after the boards and went to the free throw line," Oregon coach Jody Runge said. "It was just a tough night overall." Welle, who stood her ground against Oregon's tall, physical front line, grabbed 10 rebounds to lead Iowa State's 38-24 rebounding advantage. The Cyclones shot 57 percent in the first half and 50 percent for the game. "I took it as a challenge," Welle said. "At the start of the game, I was like, I don't care if I don't get a rebound or I don't care if I score, I just want to play physical." Iowa State's balance was most evident during a 16-1 first-half run that put the Cyclones ahead to play. Six different players scored as Iowa State broke from a 22-22 tie to a 38-23 lead, and the Cyclones led 48-38 at halftime against a team that had been allowing only 58 points a game. "I think that was the most critical, three, four, five minutes of the game," Fennelly said. "That was the time when we got the momentum and the crowd got into the game." In the second half, Iowa State answered every time Oregon threatened. When a 9-0 run drew Oregon to 50-47, Iowa State responded with seven straight points, Welle finishing that burst with a three-point play. Mowe's basket inside drew Oregon to 57-52, but Iowa State came back with an 11-3 run to go up 68-55 with 6:06 remaining. Oregon stayed within striking distance until Frese drove to the basket, scooped in a left-handed shot as she was fouled and sank the free throw for a 77-60 lead with 2:42 to go. "Our defense is what won us games this year and it's what lost us our game tonight," Oregon's Lisa Bowyer said. "It's disappointing that we had to lose because of our defense." Shaquala Williams added 16 points for Oregon, 11 in the first half. She didn't score in the second half until the game was out of reach. Bowyer scored 13 points, handed out seven assists and made two steals.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Copyright © 1999 CNN/SI. A Time Warner Company. Terms under which this service is provided to you.
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
