Syracuse, N.Y. -- Shortly after 7 p.m. Monday, Iowa State women's basketball coach Bill Fennelly and Syracuse coach Quentin Hillsman rushed to their offices about 1,000 miles apart for a lengthy and similar chore.
Both had seen their squads pitted against each other just moments after ESPN's NCAA Tournament seeding show came on the air. They will meet 1:30 p.m. Saturday in a first-round game in Storrs, Conn.
But that will be the first-ever women's basketball meeting between the schools, so when it came to game preparation the coaches were starting at scratch. They hunkered down next to video equipment in their offices and worked from that evening into the wee hours of Tuesday to put together strategies.