Guards highlight night of NCAA games at Hilton

AMES – If it is guard play you like, Hilton Coliseum is the place to be tonight.

Virginia's Monica Wright, the ACC Player of the Year, takes the floor first when the No. 5-seeded Cavaliers (21-9) face No. 12 Green Bay in a first-round NCAA Tournament game. The late show will feature another all-America candidate in Iowa State point guard Alison Lacey, who's returning from pneumonia after three weeks off.

The No. 4 Cyclones (23-7) take on No. 13 Lehigh (29-3) at 8:50 p.m.

“Fans in this area are going to get a treat,” Virginia coach Debbie Ryan said Saturday before her team's morning practice. “They are two of the best guards in America.”

Wright passed Dawn Staley as UVa's all-time scoring leader this season and averages 23.3 points a game. The conference's defensive player of the year has 2,506 career points.

Lacey comes in with averages of 16.5 points, 6.3 assists and 5.1 rebounds. Her body of work this year may ultimately go down as one of the most impressive single seasons in ISU history.

The seniors could meet up Tuesday night if both win tonight.

“She has a maturity to her game that not a lot of players have,” Ryan said of Lacey. “She's an amazing point guard. I hope we are fortunate enough to get that match-up. It's not guarantee. We have our hands full.”

Green Bay (27-4) went 5-1 this season against NCAA teams in winning its 12

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straight Horizon League regular-season title, the longest active streak in the nation.

It earned the first-ever at-large bid for a school from the Horizon League.

Lehigh comes in having won 16 straight games.

It would be a monumental upset if the Mountain Hawks can take down the heavily-favored hosts. Patriot League teams have lost their last 17 NCAA Tournament games.

Lacey's return will be a huge boost for the Cyclones, even if she won't be at full strength.

ISU Coach Bill Fennelly is hoping he can squeeze 25 good minutes out of her.

“I try and get back in the swing of things in the first game and hopefully come out with the win,” Lacey said.

Here's a look at the teams in Ames angling to send the Cyclones and their fans home unhappy:

Lehigh

Nickname: Mountain Hawks

Coach: Sue Troyan (236-202 overall, 15

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season)

Conference: Patriot League

NCAA history: 0-2 (1997, 2009)

Best player: G Erica Prosser, 13.9 ppg, 4.3 ast, 2.7 spg, 33.1 3-pt%

Just the facts: One of seven schools to have both its women's and men's teams earn automatic bids to the NCAAs… has never faced a team from the Big 12 Conference… average 834 fans per home game.

Key stat: Holding opponents to 51.7 ppg and 34.1 percent shooting on field goals.

What they're saying:  “We went 13-1 in our conference, won our conference and never had a player recognized by our league. I think that speaks to what our team is about,” Troyan said.

Virginia

Nickname: Cavaliers

Coach: Debbie Ryan (720-307, 33

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season)

Conference: Atlantic Coast

NCAA history: 33-23 (reached 2

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round in each of last four trips)

Best player: G Monica Wright, 23.3 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 3.6 spg

Just the facts: Reached the second round of NCAAs each of last two years… Are just outside the AP Top 25 poll but rank 21

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in the ESPN/USA Today coaches' poll… Virginia will host first- and second-round NCAA games next season at John Paul Jones Arena.

Key stat: Second-leading scorer is forward Chelsea Shine at 8.1 points a game.

What they're saying: “They are going to have to look out for every player on the floor and not just me,” Wright said.

Green Bay

Nickname: Phoenix

Coach: Matt Bollant (82-13 overall, 3rd season)

Conference: Horizon League

NCAA history: 2-9 (won first round games in 2003, 2007)

Best player: Co-honors to F Kayla Tetschlag (14.8 ppg, 6.5 rpg) and G Celeste Hoewisch (13.8 ppg, 4.1 rpg).

Just the facts: Making its 13

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straight postseason appearance (NCAA and WNIT)… ranks in the top 25 in nine different NCAA statistical categories… all five starters are from the state of Wisconsin.

Key stat: Ranks seventh in Division I in victories during the 2000 decade with 259.

What they're saying:  “I feel like we can play more relaxed. We have nothing to lose right now because we are supposed to lose, at least according to everybody else,” Hoewisch said.