The beginning of the season has been a bit of a grind.

The No. 22 ISU women’s basketball team, in its first five games, lost forward Chelsea Poppens for an unknown amount of time, played four of those five games in a nine-day period and won all five games.

After the Cyclones’ 87-45 blowout of Drake on Nov. 27, ISU coach Bill Fennelly gave the team days off last Wednesday and Thursday, held practice Friday and Saturday, and rested the team again on Sunday. Fennelly said the team (5-0) was physically and mentally tired and its next opponent, Iowa, was not even mentioned until Monday at practice.

“We did two days of [ISU] stuff [last Wednesday and Thursday] because when you get into the season, it’s prepare for a game, prepare for a game, prepare for a game, and all of a sudden you’re like, ‘We don’t run our offense very well, we haven’t practiced it,'” Fennelly said. “You don’t have time to work on your own stuff so we did that for two days.”

For players, the days off helped not only with things on the court, but off as well. Center Anna Prins found time to do things she had been slightly neglecting recently due to the hectic schedule.

“When you’re behind on even just laundry, it can get kind of stressful because it’s always in the back of your mind that you’re just getting behind on things,” Prins said. “I got to catch up on a lot of stuff like homework, cleaning my room.”

In the win against Drake, Prins had 17 points and four rebounds in 23 minutes of action.

“As far as resting our bodies, I think it was nice to have that break knowing, too, that we did have that break and it’s time to push ourselves [for Iowa],” Prins said.

In the absence of Poppens, Prins has been thrust into more of a leadership role than she has been used to. While she is still adjusting to being more vocal, Fennelly said her play has been good in the last couple of games.

“She’s worked very hard at it,” Fennelly said of Prins. “Her nature, she’s not a very vocal person, but she’s trying. That’s all you can ask. When you ask someone to do something they’re not comfortable with, all you ask is that they try.”

Forward Hallie Christofferson also recognizes that the hole Poppens leaves is one that the team has to try to fill together; not just one person can do it.

Christofferson has been leading by example on the floor, earning 20 points and 10 rebounds in 24 minutes against Drake this season.

“I think everyone is actually stepped up tremendously,” Christofferson said. “With Pop being gone, it gives other people minutes and her points and her rebounds that she gets, and so it opens up the floor for everybody else.”