Before reaching halftime on Sunday, Iowa State had already surpassed its turnover goal.

The Cyclones (2-0) still managed to easily beat North Dakota (0-2) 73-34 despite 27 turnovers. Iowa State turned the ball over 16 times in the first half alone.

“We need to take care of the ball more,” said Brynn Williamson. “We have a goal of turnovers, and in the first half it was shot.”

ISU women’s basketball coach Bill Fennelly said the team’s turnover goal for a game is 14, which the team quickly surpassed in the first half alone. 

“Half of those we can clean up,” Fennelly said. “The other half is part of the game and you have to credit their defense.”

Despite the turnovers, the Cyclones went to halftime with a 41-15 lead. Iowa State shot 70.8 percent in the first half, missing only seven of its 24 shots.

“We either scored or threw it away,” Fennelly said of the team’s first half. “It was a very bizarre offensive performance.”

Williamson led the way for the Cyclones in the win. The sophomore scored 17 points, including 5-of-5 in 3-pointers, to go along with seven rebounds and five assists, all career highs.

One big reason for Williamson’s performance was North Dakota heavily guarding her teammates.

“We’ve talked to Brynn a lot about the impact she can make on our team,” Fennelly said. “The number one thing is she can really shoot it. If you’re going to double-team or whatever, she’s going to make a lot of shots.”

Nikki Moody made her first appearance since the team’s first exhibition game on Nov. 1. Moody was inactive with a viral illness previously.

Early in the game Moody showed signs of rust, turning the ball over six times in the first half. The sophomore guard had no turnovers in the second half and ended with a team-high eight assist.

“Nikki went through her exhibition game tonight I thought,” Fennelly said. “[She] really wasn’t ready to do some of the things and turned the ball over a little bit, but she hadn’t played and practiced much.”

Emiah Bingley, who filled in at point guard in Moody’s absence, often played alongside her on Sunday. Bingley took on a scoring role though, scoring 16 points.

Bingley had 11 assists in the team’s first game, but had only one in the team’s second game on Sunday.

“If you’re playing someone that has one really, really good defender, you can play two of them,” Fennelly said of playing both Moody and Bingley. “One of them has to guard Nikki and Emiah can be the point guard.”

There were multiple reasons given for the high turnover number on Sunday, ranging from a lack of focus to tough defense from North Dakota. Those things allowed Iowa State to make adjustments on the fly.

“They came out a lot harder than we might have expected,” Bingley said of North Dakota. “Never under estimate your opponent, that’s just something that we have to continue to remember.”