ISU women seek rare in-state sweep Sunday against UNI

AMES — Iowa State’s women’s basketball team will seek to accomplish something Sunday it hasn’t done since the 2013-14 season: Complete a sweep of its three in-state Division I opponents.

Northern Iowa (6-2) serves as the final obstacle in that rarely charted perfect path — and Cyclones coach Bill Fennelly expects stern resistance from Tanya Warren’s Panthers when the two teams square off at 5 p.m. at Hilton Coliseum.

“Not only is she an outstanding coach, but she’s a great mentor to my son (and UNI assistant Steven Fennelly),” Fennelly said. “You want your kids to be around quality people and that’s a great program, great kids. They do it the right way and it’s a tremendous challenge for our team.”

Iowa State rose to a different challenge earlier this week by beating No. 12 Iowa, 77-70, for the first time since Dec. 11, 2015.

Fennelly said facing the Hawkeyes and Panthers in consecutive games will test his 15th-ranked team (9-1) in a variety of ways.

“A very veteran team,” Fennelly said of UNI. “They really know what their system’s about. They play a lot of kids. They’re very defined in their roles.”

Fennelly called himself a “big Karli Rucker fan” and lauded the Panthers’ senior point guard for her all-around game. Rucker scored 25 points when UNI stunned the Cyclones 71-63 for their first-ever win at Hilton in 2019.

“I think she’s one of the best point guards not just in the Midwest, but in the country, really,” Fennelly said.

ISU guard Lexi Donarski will likely be the primary defender on Rucker. She served in the same role against Hawkeyes star Caitlin Clark in Wednesday’s Cy-Hawk win.

“I just take pride in my defense,” said Donarski, who leads the Cyclones in minutes played per game at 34.9. “I try to control them and take really tough shots, but it’s definitely a team effort — a lot of communication on ball screens.”

If Donarski can help bottle up Rucker and ISU is able to find and finish clean looks from the 3-point line, that difficult in-state sweep moves from possible to probable territory.

“It’s one of those things that people outside the borders of our state don’t pay attention to, but we do,” Fennelly said. “Not just because you’ve just won three games, but to do it you’ve got to beat three really good teams.”

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