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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
AMES, Iowa (AP) -- Iowa State was so effective from the 3-point
line against St. Francis that even center Angie Welle got into the
act.
Welle led Iowa State with 18 points, including her second
3-pointer of the season, and the Cyclones (No. 10 ESPN/USA Today, No. 7 AP) set an NCAA Midwest Regional record with 15 3s Friday night in beating the Red Flash 92-63.
"I could have sworn they had more than 15," St. Francis coach
Myndi Hill said. "I thought it was more like 30. It felt like
it."
Jess Zinobile, the nation's No. 3 scorer, had 27 points in a
strong performance for 14th-seeded St. Francis (23-8). But the Red
Flash had no answer for all the shooters that third-seeded Iowa
State (26-5) puts on the floor.
Stacy Frese and Megan Taylor each scored 17 points for the
Cyclones, who play sixth-seeded Illinois on Sunday night. Desiree
Francis added 16, Lindsey Wilson had 13 and Welle, four inches
taller than any St. Francis starter, grabbed 14 rebounds.
Frese was 5-for-8 on 3-point attempts and Taylor and Wilson each
made three from behind the arc. The Cyclones also dominated inside,
outrebounding St. Francis 50-28 and outscoring the Red Flash 36-12
inside.
"We had a good inside game going with Des and Angie and we've
said all year, if the inside game is going, the outside game is
going," Frese said.
Delighting a crowd of 13,617, the largest ever for a first-round
game in the women's tournament, Iowa State finished 15-of-31 on
3-point shots to break the Midwest Regional record of 11 by Penn
State against Alabama in 1994.
The Cyclones, who shot 53.8 percent, fell one short of the
overall tournament record of 16 by Harvard against Vanderbilt in
1996.
"The 3-point shot is a big part of our offense and it was there
tonight," said Iowa State coach Bill Fennelly, whose team is
second nationally with an average of nine 3-pointers a game. "I
thought offensively we were very good."
Iowa State, the Big 12 champion, hit six 3s in the first 8½
minutes but could not pull away because St. Francis was playing
efficiently on offense at the other end. A 3-pointer by Zinobile
left the Red Flash trailing 30-21 with 10:53 left in the half.
That's as close as it would get the rest of the way, however, as
Iowa State responded with a 20-4 run. Frese made two 3-pointers and
Taylor and Monica Huelman each hit one as Iowa State stretched its
lead to 50-25.
St. Francis closed the half with an 8-0 run and drew to 50-35 on
Zinobile's basket inside 14 seconds in the second half. When Beth
Barnabei hit a 3 to cap a 7-0 run, the Red Flash trailed 64-51 with
12:46 to play.
But Fennelly didn't call a timeout or even get up off the bench.
Instead, he sat back and watched his team reassert itself with a
couple more 3-point baskets.
Welle made hers from the top of the key and Frese swished
another from the right wing. Then three straight baskets inside
made it 81-56 and Fennelly began clearing his bench a short time
later.
"That was what killed me, when Welle stopped out and hit that
one," Hill said. "It was like, nobody's missing."
It was just the fifth 3-point shot Welle has taken this season.
"I wanted to get in on the fun, too," she said.
The largest crowd previously for a first-round game was 12,577
for Liberty at Tennessee in 1998.
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ALSO SEE
Womens College Basketball Scoreboard
St Francis (Penn.) NCAA Team Report
Iowa State NCAA Team Report
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