Cyclones now face life without Lacey

AMES – Few thought Iowa State's women's basketball team could reach the heights it did this season with the roster it had to work with.

Making another splash in the rugged Big 12 Conference and reaching a third straight Sweet Sixteen will be just as big of a challenge without star point guard Alison Lacey and hard-nosed guard Denae Stuckey, the glue that's held this team together for the last several years.

Lacey's absence leaves a massive void in scoring, play-making and leadership.

"She has put this team on her back from the very beginning to get us to this point,” Coach Bill Fennelly said at the start of ISU's NCAA tournament run, which ended in Dayton, Ohio, Sunday with a 74-36 loss to unbeaten and top-seeded Connecticut.

She meant the world to a handful of freshmen, who followed her lead and helped ISU to a second-place finish in the league and a 25-8 overall record.

Lacey finished with nine points against UConn, ending her career as ISU's sixth-leading career scorer (1,620). She also leaves as one of only six players in Big 12 history to amass 1,500 points, 500 rebounds and 500 assists.

“It's going to be really sad when we realize she's gone and isn't coming back,” said forward Chelsea Poppens, one of three first-year post players who had to learn on the fly this season.

Fennelly's roster was a work in progress from the get-go.

“I have coached this team harder than any team that I've ever coached in my life,” he said. “It hasn't been fair sometimes, but that is what we felt we had to do and they accepted it and played through it.”

The Cyclones did get a taste of life without “Aus,” the Australia-born Lacey's nickname, while she was sidelined late in the year with pneumonia.

It provided a chance for players like Kelsey Bolte – next year's lone senior – to assume a leadership role. Sophomore Whitney Williams helped run the point in Lacey's absence, a position she likely assumes for 2010-11.

“It's been in the back of my mind that this is next year,” Williams said. “It's been good to get that learning experience.”

The trio of Poppens, Anna Prins and Amanda Zimmerman should be improved. They are excited for the future and perhaps some new roles.

The 6-7 Prins averaged 9.9 points and shot 40.3 percent from the 3-point line.

“We got pushed into the game really early and had to learn fast,” Poppens said. “I think we still will be good.”

Poppens proved to be a hustler and a rebounding whiz.

The 6-2 forward led the team with a 7.2 per game average and almost had as many rebounds in the offensive end (106) as the defensive (132). Poppens, who also averaged 8.8 points this season, just has a knack for the ball.

“I think it comes from volleyball,” she said. “You have to go to the ball to hit it. I've always kinda had that.”

Her ferociousness down low comes from years of playing soccer. She admittedly was a bully.

“I was always bigger than the other girls. I beat them up a little bit,” she said. “I'm used to being rough and getting tough down low and pushing and fighting.”

Three new players join the team next season, including Exira forward Hallie Christopherson, who most believed was the best senior in the state of Iowa last season.