Iowa State women's basketball plays Oklahoma State on Saturday to open brutal Big 12 slate
AMES – The Iowa State women’s basketball team’s young roster got its first taste of college hoops with a non-conference schedule that included in-state rivals, other Power 5 programs and a few less-formidable foes. The Cyclones are now preparing for a part of the schedule many have never experienced before.
Iowa State will kick off Big 12 Conference play Saturday when the Cyclones play at Oklahoma State at 2 p.m. It’ll mark the start of a difficult grind through the conference portion of the season where there are no gimmes, very little time off and plenty of tough competition for Iowa State’s inexperienced roster.
“The talent level is obviously better,” said Iowa State coach Bill Fennelly. “I think the thing I’ve told our kids is, it’s bigger, stronger and faster.”
The Cyclones were 7-4 in the non-conference, with losses to Drake, Vanderbilt, Syracuse and Iowa. Sandwiched into part of that schedule were some less-difficult opponents that Iowa State was able to beat up on, gaining some valuable experience and confidence.
It was helpful for Iowa State’s revamped roster that included transfers Isnelle Natabou and Hannah Belanger and five freshmen (Arianna Jackson, Kelsey Joens, Audi Crooks, Addy Brown and Jalynn Bristow). All seven, especially the five freshmen, have played big-time minutes.
Iowa State’s team brought back just two players, point guard Emily Ryan and forward Nyamer Diew, with substantial playing time with the Cyclones last season. So the non-conference games were beneficial for the Cyclones to get acclimated before Big 12 play rolled around.
"When you're comparing early games to more recent games and you see that improvement, I think that's a big confidence booster for everybody on the team because everyone's taking that step forward," Belanger said.
Iowa State will embark on a grueling 18-game Big 12 schedule that includes showdowns with No. 7 Texas, No. 11 Baylor, No. 16 Kansas State, No. 25 Texas Christian and a long list of other tough opponents in the league. The days of seeing overmatched opponents on the schedule are over. Teams are talented, experienced and deep.
“Obviously we know it’s a step up in competition,” Belanger said.
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While it will be a new experience for many of Iowa State’s fresh faces, Fennelly doesn’t believe the conference schedule will be entirely unfamiliar territory for his team. He noted that his players got a glimpse of what goes into preparing for a tough opponent with a quick turnaround earlier this season. The Cyclones took on a top-10 foe in Iowa just three days after beating UNCW.
The Cyclones competed well against the Hawkeyes, leading in the fourth quarter before falling 67-58. It was enough to make Fennelly feel confident about how his team would handle the Big 12 schedule, which features games on Wednesdays and Saturdays.
"It was a good benchmark," Fennelly said.
Fennelly’s team made massive strides during the non-conference season, winning its final three non-conference games and six of the last seven. Even those losses had stretches of strong play for the Cyclones. But a few long runs of inconsistent play, including a brutal second quarter at Drake, ended up being costly.
Those ugly stretches have mostly disappeared during Iowa State’s recent run. Having Ryan back should add stability and consistency (she missed the first nine games of the season with a health issue). And the newcomers are catching on quickly.
“I think we’ve finally figured out everyone’s role, how each player plays,” Joens said. “So I think that is really helping us. I think we got a few wins under our belt where we were like, ‘We can do this.'”
The Cyclones will find out how much progress they've made when they meet the Cowgirls on Saturday in Stillwater. Iowa State was picked to finish sixth in the preseason Big 12 coaches' poll. Joens hopes her team can surprise some people.
“Everyone’s going to underestimate us,” Joens said. “But we’ve got to prove them wrong.”
Tommy Birch, the Register's sports enterprise and features reporter, has been working at the newspaper since 2008. He's the 2018 and 2020 Iowa Sportswriter of the Year. Reach him at tbirch@dmreg.com or 515-284-8468.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Young Iowa State women's basketball team prepares for grind of Big 12
