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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
AMES, Iowa (AP) -- Desiree Francis found her shooting touch just
when Iowa State needed it the most.
Francis hit three 3-pointers in a 90-second span to get Iowa
State back into the game, and the Cyclones finished strong after an
agonizing start to beat Illinois 79-68 Sunday night in the Midwest
Regional.
Third-seeded Iowa State (27-5) fell behind by eight points early
and was down 11 in the second half before Francis starting
connecting.
"I just started shooting it every time I touched it," said
Francis, who finished with four 3-pointers and 18 points.
"Sometimes you make one and you think you can make all the others.
I just got my confidence and started shooting it more."
Her teammates started hitting as well and the Cyclones pulled
away from the Illini (23-11) in the final 4½ minutes to earn a
berth in the regional semifinals against second-seeded Penn State
(28-4) Saturday night in Kansas City. Penn State advanced with a
75-69 victory over Auburn.
"We needed somebody to make a play," Iowa State coach Bill
Fennelly said. "When Des hit the 3, I think everybody could
breathe, the fans got in the game and then everybody decided to
play."
Angie Welle led Iowa State with 19 points. Kylie Martin's 18 led
Illinois, which shot only 36 percent (9-for-25) in the second half.
Illinois, which frustrated Iowa State early with its aggressive
man-to-man defense, led for the last time at 61-60 on Martin's
follow shot with 7:56 left. Stacy Frese, held in check most of the
night, then hit a 3-pointer as the shot clock buzzer sounded for a
63-61 Iowa State lead, triggering a 14-3 run that put the Cyclones
in control.
Francis followed Frese's basket with a layup to make it 65-61
before Tauja Catchings sank a free throw and scored on a putback to
draw the Illini to within a point.
But Iowa State answered with nine straight points, Lindsey
Wilson capping the burst with a 3-pointer, to go up 74-64 -- too
much for Illinois to overcome.
"The last 10 minutes we played the way we needed to play,"
Fennelly said. "They're a very good team and we had to play as
good as we could play the last 10 minutes to have a chance to
win."
Wilson scored 13 points, Frese had 12 and Megan Taylor 11 to go
with 10 rebounds and four steals. Allison Curtin scored 14 for
Illinois. Catchings and Susan Blauser each had 13.
Iowa State got a lift from a boisterous crowd of 13,478 that
included All-American Marcus Fizer, who has led Iowa State to the
round of 16 in the men's tournament.
Leading by four at halftime, Illinois used three-point plays by
Curtin and Martin to go up 47-36 with 16:03 left. Francis then
found the range and keyed a 16-4 run that put Iowa State ahead
52-51.
"There's no question that when you're chasing a lead and you
can hit that 3, that's a definite plus in your pocket," Illinois
coach Theresa Grentz said.
The lead changed hands twice after that before Frese's
buzzer-beating 3.
Iowa State, which averages 80.5 points a game, missed its first
seven shots in falling behind 6-0. The Cyclones didn't score until
Taylor hit a follow shot at the 14:50 mark.
With the outside shooters neutralized -- Iowa State was 2-for-13
on 3-point shots in the first half -- the Cyclones finally started
clicking by getting the ball inside to Welle. They led briefly
before Illinois went up 35-31 at halftime.
"The defense was great," Catchings said. "We were in their
faces. We just tried to keep the momentum going as much as we
could."
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ALSO SEE
Womens College Basketball Scoreboard
Illinois NCAA Team Report
Iowa State NCAA Team Report
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