Iowa State 79, Washington 60

3/17/2007 1:22 PM

By JON KRAWCZYNSKI
AP Sports Writer

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -It took a few minutes for Iowa State and its fervent fan base to settle in at Williams Arena.

Once the 3-pointers started falling and the crowd started rocking, Washington didn't stand a chance.

Nicky Wieben scored 11 of her 18 points in the second half and Toccara Ross added 12 points to lead the sixth-seeded Cyclones to a 79-60 victory over 11th-seeded Washington in the opening round of the NCAA tournament on Saturday.

Iowa State (26-8) overcame a shoddy start by shutting down Huskies star Cameo Hicks early. Hicks finished with 19 points for Washington (18-13), but missed seven of her first nine shots and didn't get going until the game was out of reach midway through the second half.

``In the first media time-out ... I made them look at the fans, and I made them think about where they were,'' Iowa State coach Bill Fennelly said. ``We were getting out-hustled, out-efforted, out-everythinged early. When we got out of that state, we were fine.''

Iowa State was 15-1 at home this season, and there was nothing neutral about Williams Arena on Saturday. Thousands of red-clad Cyclones fans took a 3 1/2-hour bus ride up from Ames to cheer on their team, turning ``The Barn'' into Hilton Coliseum North.

But it was the Huskies who were the aggressors in the opening five minutes, dominating the offensive glass to take an early lead. Washington, which led the Pac-10 in offensive rebounds this season, grabbed three on its first possession and 10 in the first half. The Huskies also forced four turnovers in the opening minutes and jumped out to a 15-6 lead on a jumper from Jill Bell.

``It started out well,'' Washington coach June Daugherty said. ``We got a couple of stops. We were all over the glass. But it seemed like it got away from us a little bit.''

Lyndsey Medders hit a 3-pointer from the left wing to start an 11-0 run, though, and got all those Cyclone fans into the game. Even University of Minnesota fans dressed in maroon and gold were rooting for neighboring Iowa State, which has three players from Minnesota on its roster.

``To have that kind of noise in that arena speaks volumes to where women's basketball is headed,'' Medders said. ``It was an amazing feeling to be out there.''

Iowa State added a 10-0 spurt later in the first half and Hicks didn't get on the board until she hit a free throw almost 15:30 into the game. She was 1-for-7 from the field in the first half, getting a layup in the closing seconds of the period to cut Iowa State's lead to 39-26.

``It did kind of feel like a road game,'' Hicks said. ``But I wouldn't say we were uncomfortable. We're used to playing in front of great crowds in the Pac-10.''

Medders and Alison Lacey also finished with 12 points for Iowa State, which shot 52 percent and hit nine 3-pointers.

``I don't know if it was nerves or anxiousness, or what it was,'' said Iowa State's Megan Ronhovde, who spent all day chasing Hicks. ``After that (first five minutes), we did a better job trying to control that.''

Breanne Watson was the only other Husky in double figures with 10 points. Washington shot just 32 percent.

``They're a team of enormous balance,'' Daugherty said of the Cyclones. ``They're tough for us to match up with.''