ISU head coach Bill Fennelly knew he had some special high school players when nationally-ranked recruits Jadda Buckley and Seanna Johnson signed their letters of intent to play for the ISU women’s basketball team.

However, the transition to college success was a big unknown.

Through six games, the Cyclones are the only team ranked in the top 25 to start two freshmen in every game this season. With a 6-0 record and No. 20 ranking, Fennelly’s frosh formula has worked thus far.

“I don’t want to jinx it, but they are way ahead of where I thought they would be with the amount of minutes they are playing and the responsibility we’ve given them,” Fennelly said.

The duo has energized their play after a slow three-game start, due in part to senior Hallie Christofferson’s high-scoring outburst. The two were averaging 17.3 points and dished out 16 assists in the first three games, but did not shoot the ball as often as Fennelly hoped.

Then the freshmen started heating up. Both scored in double-digits against Drake before Johnson lit up the scoreboard with a 37-point outburst in a two-game stretch at the South Point Shootout.

The pair averaged 26.3 points per game in the last three contests and pulled down 34 rebounds — 13 more than their previous three-game stretch. Johnson sits at second on the team in points per game (12.7) and rebounds per game (6.2), while Buckley leads the team in three-point percentage (.462) and is 13-of-14 at the free throw line this season.

“I’m playing my role,” Buckley said. “Seanna is putting up the numbers, which is amazing … we’re all just meshing pretty good out there.”

Johnson has been the most pleasant surprise for Fennelly. Averaging 17.0 points per game during the ISU Thanksgiving break, she has become the offensive weapon to take the pressure off of pre-season All-Big 12 pick, Christofferson.

Buckley, who was recruited as a sharp-shooter, has come on as a defensive headache for opposing teams. She leads the team in steals (8), and despite being one of the shortest players on the team, she trails only Christofferson (4 blocks) and Brynn Williamson (4 blocks), with three blocks of her own.

However, Fennelly hopes to see more scoring out of Buckley.

“We need to get her to have the same aggressiveness on offense as she has on defense,” Fennelly said. “She’s got to be a more viable option for us offensively. … She can do it; she just has to start shooting more.”

Buckley sits at 9.2 points per game, but hopes to increase that number by Big 12 play. She will have an opportunity to start that trend against the Panthers.

Although Northern Iowa has struggled to find success in the confines of Hilton Coliseum, Iowa State will be on full-alert for another in-state rivalry game. The Panthers (2-5) force turnovers and will play a different style than the Cyclones’ previous six opponents.

“Historically when we play UNI, they do some weird things defensively to us,” Fennelly said. “You kind of have a general plan, but adjust it as the game starts.”

The Cyclones will tip off against the Panthers at 7 p.m. Dec. 4 at Hilton Coliseum.