Through Iowa State’s first two exhibition wins this week, no play caught the attention of ISU coach Bill Fennelly like the one he saw Wednesday.

It was near the end of the game in the Cyclones’ 78-49 win against Carthage, after every player on the ISU roster had been able to hit the hardwood, that made him react.

“We’re trying to run a play for Elly [Arganbright] to get a shot as a senior. And she drives into the lane and has a shot, and decides to pass the ball to a freshman,” Fennelly said. “That is the definition of hopefully what this team is going to stand for moving forward and I’m very proud of that.”

After two wins last week, against Wayne State and Carthage in exhibition matchups, No. 23 Iowa State will now turn its attention to its regular-season opener against North Dakota on Sunday, Nov. 10, at Hilton Coliseum. Tipoff is scheduled for 5 p.m.

The Cyclones are entering the season with a new faces to the lineup after the departures of Chelsea Poppens and Anna Prins. Filling those seniors’ places left open after last season are two freshmen, Jadda Buckley and Seanna Johnson.

With a starting group that looks a little different from last year’s, the transition offense by Iowa State could be perhaps more important than in recent years.

“We’re smaller, we can run and you’ll see that when we play,” said senior Hallie Christofferson. “Just using their turnovers to our advantage, just going full throttle to the basket and knowing that we can make something happen that way.”

Rebounding has also been a point of emphasis leading into Sunday’s season opener. After losing Poppens, who stands at 6-foot-2 and Prins (6-foot-7), the way Iowa State approaches rebounding must change to adapt.

Three starters on the North Dakota roster stand 6 feet or taller compared to just one by the Cyclones, so Fennelly believes his team’s rebounding must be a collective effort by all five players on the court in order to be successful.

“It’s like gang tackling in football. Everybody’s got to run to the ball and tackle; I mean everyone,” Fennelly said. “We’re going to face a team on Sunday that might be one of the tallest teams in the country. We’re not getting taller, we’ve got to get tougher, you just have to go get the ball.

“We’re not going to out-rebound a lot of teams, we’ve just got to survive.”