Christmas came early for Bill Fennelly and the Iowa State women's basketball team.
After a 74-67 loss to then-24th-ranked Kansas State in the Big 12 tournament on March 4 left the Cyclones with an 18-12 record (9-9 Big 12), the Iowa State coach didn't know if his team's body of work would be enough to make the NCAA Tournament.
But he felt a huge weight lifted when the Cyclones were announced as a ninth seed in the Bridgeport region in the early moments of the selection show on Monday night.
"I never took my mind off it, as much as I tried," Fennelly told the Des Moines Register.