By: Jordan Hamann
Tonight all of Cyclone Nation is feeling the shock and sadness as one of its own passed away.
Former Iowa State women’s basketball star Monica Huelman Zaruba passed away suddenly. It’s unknown at this time what the cause of her death.
A Vinton, Iowa native, Monica attended Vinton-Shellsburg High School, where she lead the Vikettes to a 1995 Class 3A state championship and a 1996 runner-up finish. In 2012, Monica was inducted into the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union Hall of Fame. At Vinton-Shellsburg, she accrued 1,803 points with 663 rebounds.
At Iowa State, the first recruit under Bill Fennelly, she mastered a total of 513 career points, 436 rebounds, while shooting an incredible 50.2 percent from the field.
A defining career moment came in the match up for the ages, when Iowa State entered its third ever NCAA appearance. The Cyclones faced top-seeded UConn under current legendary coach Geno Auriemma. (Huelman) Zaruba hit a three-pointer with a little over five minutes left in the second-half to put the Cyclones ahead of UConn for good.The Cyclones eventually upset the undefeated Huskies ultimately ending their undefeated season.
Zaruba is survived by her husband, Terry.
She was 40 years old.
