Saturday, March 23rd, 2019

Well, it's the best time of the year for basketball fans.  March Madness is well under way, and today I was able to be a part of that for the Women's tournament at least.  Since the "Twister Sisters" are a top 4 seed (a 3 seed to be exact), they get to host the first two rounds of the tournament at Hilton.  So tonight I was joined by Amy, Logan, Elizabeth, Nolan, and Maxwell to watch the 3-seed Cyclones blow past the 14-seed Aggies of New Mexico State, 97-61.  This was Logan's first time at an ISU sporting event.  It was cute watching him eat the clone cone, because he just couldn't get enough of it, and he definitely wanted more when it was gone :)

Bridget Carleton was the player of the game for Iowa State, as she led the team with 23 points.  I guess that should be no surprise, as she is currently in second place on ISU's all-time scoring list, and she has a shot to take over the #1 spot if she does well in the tournament.  Carleton was joined in double figures scoring by Alexa Middleton (15), Ashley Joens (14), and Kristin Scott (12).  This is the third time that I have been in attendance for an ISU NCAA tournament game.  The other times were oddly enough both against Florida State.  The first time was back in 2001, when the Cyclones won to move onto the Sweet 16, and the other time was a victory for the Seminoles in the first round back in 2014.  

Logan enjoying his first clone cone!

A view of the action in the first half between Iowa State and New Mexico State.

Speaking of March Madness, I was bummed yesterday when the ISU men lost a close game to Ohio State in the first round of the tournament.  Since their season is now finished, I thought I would look back to the men's games I attended this season:

I saw Cyclone victories against...

• Alabama State
• Missouri
• Omaha
• North Dakota State
• Eastern Illinois
• Kansas
• Oklahoma State
• West Virginia
• Oklahoma

...and I attended losses vs:

• Kansas State
• TCU
• Baylor

All in all, it was a fun season.  Having the Cyclones go 9-3 in games I attended was pretty good, but it is always disappointing to watch them lose.  My favorite game of the year had to be the Kansas game.  In case you were wondering, the Cyclones went 8-4 in the games I attended last year.