Big XII -1 SEC -0

[BenEClone]

If this continues, we'll call the Twister Sisters the Cardiac Clones. Fennelly made a good point post game that the character involved in winning a close game against a good team is more praiseworthy than the talent. Games like this should be good preparation for the Big XII wars.

[ISU3PointLand]

Oh I've been through the ringer again! This was a battle pure and simple. The Cyclones were extremely lucky to get through this one. While the rebounding was pretty even overall (Auburn 44-43), the Tigers controlled the offensive boards (22-8). Auburn is a VERY quick and athletic team. They seemed to be everywhere on the court.

Fortunately for the Cyclones two things happened that I wasn't expecting -- the passing was incredible and Melanie Bremer showed up big time. ISU's passing skills were on tonight. The passes were quick and clean. Welle was guarded well on the inside throughout most of the game. When the Tigers main post player, Tia Miller, fouled out, Welle turned on the juice and took over the paint.

Auburn also hit the shots they needed to hit down the stretch. It seemed that each trip down the court it was a shot and a bucket for the Tigers. If AU had been shooting that well the whole game, we wouldn't have stood a chance.

ISU played the perimeter well, shooting 13-33 outside the arc, but Auburn responded with a 10-33 night behind the line. I really didn't think that Auburn was that proficient from 3-point range, but when the Cyclones gave them the shot, they took it. Free throws again proved to be a hurdle for the Clones, going 11-18 from the charity stripe.

Melanie Bremer was outstanding in her return to action after serving a suspension at the end of the first semester. She was 6-8 from the field, including THE clutch 3-pointer to tie the game at 69. Her 14 points were the difference in the game. It seems each game that someone steps up and surprises me. Against UNI it was Mary Cofield, tonight it was Melanie.

The officiating was ok, not great, but not horrible. It wasn't going to make a difference in the game. Both teams left it on the floor, and for an aggressive team, I was very impressed how cleanly Auburn played. They had 15 fouls for the game and could have been called for more, but they weren't hacking and clubbing the Cyclones like some other teams I have seen.

The attendance tonight from ISU fans was great. I estimated that between 250-300 Cyclones made the trip to San Diego for the game. I think Auburn had all of 10 fans there. The Jenny Craig Pavillion is a nice facility to see a game it, I'd almost describe it as quaint. It's not big, but I can see how if it were full, the Toreros would have a very big home court advantage.

So it's on to the championship game on Sunday night. I haven't seen a score yet, but I'm assuming that we will be seeing USD in the title game.


[This message has been edited by ISU3PointLand (edited 12-28-2001).]