WBB: Iowa State picks up in the pace in exhibition win

AMES, Iowa. — Starting off the year strong, the Iowa State Cyclones defeated the UW-La Crosse Eagles 93-50 in an exhibition with a full-fledged team effort. Head Coach Bill Fennelly utilizes these games to experiment with different lineups, and that he did, with every Cyclone tallying at least 15 minutes.

In a game like this, the stat-lines are taken with a grain of salt, but he Cyclones showed their dominance in the paint.

There’s no doubt Bride Kennedy-Hopoate, will be a factor for the ‘Clones down low, but it’s still unknown how quickly she will be able to correct some of her early mistakes. The JUCO transfer out of Hutchinson Community College finished with 14 points and nine boards but wasn’t afraid to share the ball either.

“Bride could be on Coach Campbell’s kickoff team, she just wants to run and hit people,” said Coach Fennelly.

The game started off with an extremely high pace, something Coach Fennelly says is here to stay.

“We got to speed the game up, make quicker decisions, and so we tried to play a little faster,” Fennelly said. “We didn’t run one set play the whole game.”

While she only finished with five points and three assists, Emily Durr embraced the point guard role, getting the ball up the court quickly and directing the offense.

Sophomore forward Adriana Camber impressed with 15 points, and showing that she will be a vital asset on both ends of the floor with her length. Bridget Carleton led the team with 17 points that looked too easy at times.

It may take some time for Coach Fennelly to finalize his rotation, with multiple bench players giving solid production on both ends. What we do know, is that he has a multitude of options to play with in these first couple weeks.

Up Next

The Cyclones play host to the South Dakota Coyotes this Friday at noon. The Coyotes finished last season 23-9 and should be a solid first test for ISU.