A sense of calm..three hours later

Well, the calm has been restored, at least for now.

What a great college basketball game. You know, it's times like these that I am grateful to be in this business. I just got to see one of the best college basketball games of the year. A dramatic win in a win-or-go-home game is like none other.

Of course, it surprised no one that Medders hit the game winner. It surely didn't surprise me that Wieben set a great screen--she's been doing that all year.

And the pieces came together. If only for another night, the pieces came together again. The second half was one of Iowa State's best efforts of the season. It would have been easy to roll over every time Nebraska made a run and put the Cyclones back in the rear-view mirror. But they didn't. They persisted.

This is a special group. It's a special team. And they have a legitimate shot to upset Top-seeded No. 13 Texas A&M tomorrow. They're not favored -- nor should they be, as the Aggies are the Big 12 regular season Champs -- But they have a chance, if things go their way.

They've rolled off seven straight wins. Ever since the loss at Baylor, this has been a different team. It hasn't always been pretty. But they're finding ways. And that's what good teams do. They find ways to win.

Yesterday's effort wouldn't have even come close to winning today's game. But again, they did what it took. They adjusted, and won another game.

Here are some random figures for you:
The No. 5 seed is now 6-5 against the No. 4 seed.
Iowa State is 6-4 in the second round.
Iowa State is 4-0 against Nebraska in the Big 12 Tournament.
Iowa State is 3-2 in the semifinals
The No. 5 seed has only ever won one game over the No. 1 seed.
Today's game was the 3rd overtime game in Big 12 Tourney history.
Bill Fennelly recorded his 17th win in the Big 12 Tourney, the most among active Big 12 coaches.
Iowa State is unbeaten in OT games this season
Nicky Wieben scored in double figures for the 21st time this year.
Megan Ronhovde tied Monica Huelman for the fifth-most games played in an ISU uniform.
Alison Lacey tied her career high with 3-pointers (4)
Lyndsey Medders has an assist in EVERY game she's played in as a Cyclone.
Iowa State has hit a 3-pointer in 365 straight games.
Tomorrow marks Iowa State's sixth appearance in the semis.

That's quite a list. And the Cyclones may just add to it tomorrow. A lot of things need to go right, but when you boil it down, Iowa State undoubtedly deserves to be there.

Next, though, are the ISU men at 11:30 a.m. in the Ford Center. Check back later to get my thoughts on that. I had to give this one up for the women's team, though. They've earned it.

Have a great night, and thanks for reading. Check back in the morning for the ISU men's basketball preview, ISU men's basketball live game updates, ISU men's basketball postgame thoughts, ISU women's basketball pregame, ISU women's basketball game live updates and ISU women's basketball postgame.

Oh yeah, and check www.iowastatedaily.com Thursday to check out a feature on Lyndsey Medders, the women's game recap and the men's game preview.

Have a great, safe night everyone. Thanks for reading. I'll try and do better tomorrow.