Freshman guard Brynn Williamson has watched countless highlight tapes of Kelsey Bolte and seen her play live in Hilton Coliseum. Bolte is Iowa State’s former shooting guard who averaged 16.9 points and five rebounds in her senior year.

Bolte also shot 43.7 percent from the field and 42 percent from 3-point range. She was named as an honorable mention to the All-American team in her senior year.

“People still talk about her all the time on campus, so she’s never going to go away,” Williamson said. “My goal is to come here and make my mark and do what Iowa State brought me here to do.”

Williamson isn’t the only one who is going to need to have that thought process. With the leading scorer from last year gone, the void is going to need to be filled. There are going to be plenty of people trying to help the scoring load.

With 14 players on the roster, it is the largest team since the 2008-2009 season. The Cyclones added four freshman recruits as well as freshman walk-on Melissa Youngblut.

Senior shooting guard Lauren Mansfield feels the freshman class could step in and help the scoring load right away.

“I think some of the freshmen could step up and take part in that,” Mansfield said. “Nikki Moody — she can score. She has good speed and she can get to the basket really well. Brynn is a great shooter as well, so if the freshmen can step up that will be great.”

Along with Mansfield, the large freshman class backs up experienced scorers in junior forward Chelsea Poppens and sophomore forward Hallie Christofferson. Christofferson averaged nine points and five rebounds per game. Poppens added eight points and a team-leading 7.5 rebounds per contest last season.

Junior center Anna Prins has battled injuries throughout her career at Iowa State, but managed to put up 10 points and five rebounds per game last season. Coach Bill Fennelly knows who he can get scoring from, but he would like to see some more consistency out of all of his players.

“We’ve had plenty of people that have came and stood in the back of the line,” Fennelly said the day before the team’s first exhibition game against Coe College. “We need some people who want to step to the front of the line every day and right now that’s not really happening.”

Mansfield is going to be a key to the Cyclones’ offense this season. She is making the switch from point guard to shooting guard, trying to fill Bolte’s shoes. Senior point guard Chassidy Cole will get the start. Fennelly believes she possesses the best knowledge of the system and is a good on-ball defender.

With the 3-point line being moved back starting this season, Mansfield will have to adjust her shooting strategy.

“I was kind of mad when I first heard about it because I had already done a bunch of shooting [from the old line],” Mansfield said. “I’ve been shooting with the new one all summer though, so I should be able to adjust.”

The change in the 3-point line may not be big in terms of actual measurement, but Fennelly has noticed the nine-inch slide back have some effect on players. He feels that it translates into a mental battle.

“The thing that I worry about is that players are even farther behind the line,” Fennelly said. “They look like they are shooting an NBA shot. We always tell them that the worse shot is when your on line, so subconsciously, I think they get too far behind the line.”

Fennelly also said the change in the distance of the 3-point line will cause defenses to switch up their mindsets. He said the new line will almost be out of some of his players’ range. With this in mind, defenses could switch up their tactics after weighing the percentages.

Iowa State has pieces on its roster that can produce numbers, but it is going to be a matter of how the pieces fit and work together. Mansfield and Cole are the only two seniors on the team and they power the backcourt. Moody, a freshman, is likely to see some time off the bench at point guard as well.

“I think we have eight or nine kids that could go out there and get 20 points,” Fennelly said prior to the team’s first exhibition game. “Those same eight or nine kids could get shut out. That’s who we are. That’s the scary part. We don’t know who that person is going to be.

“I wish I could tell you who that person is going to be, but I can’t right now.