Iowa State hosted its annual media day Tuesday at the Sukup Basketball Facility. 

Losing a player like Kelsey Bolte, who was the face of the program last year, is going to be tough. The ISU women’s basketball team is doing its best so far to figure out just how tough it will be. 

When asked about what the team is doing to start dealing without Bolte, coach Bill Fennelly immediately addressed that he’s had his mind on it a lot.

“We’re looking for leaders, we’re looking for consistency,” Fennelly said. “It’s been the worst offseason that we’ve ever had. We’ve got more people hurt than we’ve ever had hurt. It is a major concern. But that’s life. So we’ll find out if the people that you’re gonna talk to that are wearing the uniforms today really believe that they want to be a true Iowa State team.”

Not only will the Cyclones lose Bolte’s points, but also her leadership. Bolte was the only senior last year and was undoubtedly the leader on and off the floor. 

“It really is a lot different without her,” said sophomore forward Hallie Christofferson. “She’ll be missed. We’ve just got to find her scoring with this year’s team.”

Trying to replace Bolte’s point output, the team will look for each player to step up their scoring and contribution on the offensive side of the ball. 

“I think as a team collectively we can make that up and be a good team and lead by example,” said senior guard Lauren Mansfield. “Even last year we had different players step up at different times. We have such a diverse team, we can have different players step up different nights making up for that.”

Fennelly mentioned that the team doesn’t return a double-digit scorer, but they do return four players that averaged between 8.6 and 9.9 points per game from last year. 

Mansfield and Anna Prins are just two players who have dealt with injuries this offseason. Mansfield pulled her hamstring and was out for two to three months and was watching game tape to keep her mind focused. 

Prins’ health has been a major concern throughout her career and she dealt with injuries ranging from her back to having her knee scoped. 

“It’s been kind of a rollercoaster,” Prins said. “In between each [injury], I did get some work done and it’s tough. I’m coming back now trying to push myself to get back into shape.”

Along with the wide variety of injuries, there have been some positional changes as well. Mansfield will be making the transition to scoring more at the two-guard in contrast to running the show and distributing at the point guard position. 

“I feel like Lauren should do a pretty good job at scoring more this year,” said junior forward Chelsea Poppens. “She’s been adapting pretty well.”

Freshman Nikki Moody will be filling in for Mansfield at the point and many of her teammates said she brings some flash. 

“She’s very good,” said senior Chassidy Cole. “She’s able to score, she’s able to take people off the dribble, she’s flashy and she’s very good at scoring and going off the dribble.”

Fennelly mentioned he’s been experimenting with a lot of lineups and that Cole and Moody will have the first shot at point guard this year, but he plans to move Mansfield back if someone emerges as a perimeter scorer. 

“In the six games where [Mansfield] scored the most points, she played the two guard in five of them,” Fennelly said. “Every coach has plays for a certain person they want to get the ball to and hopefully we can find that person.”

In Fennelly’s news conference, he referred to the wall in the locker room that features great players of year’s past such as Allison Lacey and Kelsey Bolte. He’s waiting for the next one to emerge. 

“It falls back on who’s the leader of the team. Every team has them,” Fennelly said. “I’m waiting for someone to earn a spot on that wall. If we find that, I think we have a chance to be a decent team.”