When Bill Fennelly looks at the Iowa women’s basketball year so far, one thing jumps out to him.

“I think right off the bat, they’re scoring at an amazing rate,” said Fennelly, the ISU women’s basketball coach. “I think the last three games, they’ve averaged like [98] points. They have five people [averaging] in double-figures, they’re shooting it at a very high rate. All of the offensive numbers are good.”

The Hawkeyes (10-1) have scored 102, 97 and 95 points in their last three games — two of which were wins by 37+ points. Iowa poses perhaps the biggest threat on offense that the Cyclones (8-0) have seen all season.

As far as going up against that high-powered attack, guard Jadda Buckley feels Iowa State matches up pretty well with Iowa.

“We’ve just got to recognize where they’re at at all times, not get lost out there and give them that wide open shot,” Buckley said.

But Iowa’s scoring isn’t coming in a selfish manner. The Hawkeyes are leading the Big Ten in assists, and in their Dec. 7 win against Idaho State, they scored 28-of-31 field goals.

Iowa also has the individual assists leader in the Big Ten with junior guard Samantha Logic. She is tied for third all-time in assists for the Hawkeyes with 427 and Fennelly even sees similarities between Iowa and Iowa State.

“The assist-to-turnover ratio is good, they have a lot of people they can put on the court that can score a big number,” Fennelly said. “That’s rare and that’s really rare in our game. They probably have five or six kids on a given night that can put up 20 points. And they run a lot of good stuff, they spread the court.”

The Cyclones are hoping to continue to spread the court as well, and the return of guard Brynn Williamson to the ISU lineup will be a factor in establishing and open floor. Williamson missed Sunday’s game against Cal-State Fullerton, but returned to practice this week and is expected to play Thursday.

Williamson feels Iowa State’s success in spacing the court comes down to the players knowing and accepting each of their specific roles.

“If I’m wide and spotting up, Nikki [Moody] can attack the basket, Hallie [Christofferson] can get dumps and when people realize that’s what they do best, that’s what they take away and that leaves shots open for me,” Williamson said. “So I think the girls did a pretty good job in the game [on Sunday]. There are little things here and there that could have been tweaked, but at the same time it just comes back to practice.”

When Iowa State experienced its shooting woes Sunday, going 0-for-9 in the first half from 3-point range, the Cyclones turned it around in the second half shooting 7-for-9 from beyond the arc. Fennelly knows Iowa State can’t afford to go a period of time without scoring, but sometimes when things aren’t falling, all it takes is one bucket to change the rhythm of the offense.

“Basketball is a funny sport,” Fennelly said. “You play hard, it’s 40 minutes, but when the ball starts going in the basket, things just look really good. … And everyone gets excited and everyone plays better.”