DAYTON, Ohio — It was likely the largest defeat in a basketball game that any of them will ever have to endure.

However, despite the brutal nature of the game, ISU players know it will ultimately serve them well in the end.

A painstaking 38-point loss to Connecticut in the Sweet 16 might hurt for a while, but for four freshmen it can be turned into an invaluable learning experience that will last them for many years to come.

At just 19 years old, Anna Prins and Chelsea Poppens spent the majority of Sunday defending Tina Charles, arguably the most dominant post player in the women’s college game.

Over the next three years, few players, if any, will rival the athleticism and dominance displayed by the duo of Charles and teammate Maya Moore.

Being exposed to this type of harsh opposition so early in their careers will give the young Cyclones a platform of competition to aim for in the future.

“You hope that they learn from it,” said coach Bill Fennelly. “What you want is for them to have a little bit of a passion to understand that this is the level they need to aspire to in order to get better. That’s how you move your game to the next level.”

Combined with fellow freshmen Jessica Schroll and Amanda Zimmerman, Iowa State’s four first-year players played a total of 88 minutes and accounted for half of the team’s points against the Huskies on Sunday.

For a program that has a significant amount of production returning for next season, gaining an understanding of what it takes to compete in the postseason will be a priceless commodity for players to have at this time next year.

“This game will definitely affect us in the future, especially being forced out into tough play like this right away in our careers,” Poppens said. “Hopefully next year we can do the same thing with the upcoming freshmen to help us keep building for the future.”

At times, Fennelly had one senior, one sophomore and three freshmen on the court together.

And although Iowa State had seemingly fixed its inconsistency and erratic tendencies that were apparent early in the year, all of that came crashing back down on the Cyclones thanks to Connecticut’s smothering style of play.

“When you play UConn, everything you do wrong is exposed,” Fennelly said. “And all of our young players were exposed in a little bit of a different way. So now you learn from it or you make excuses for it, and hopefully they can do the right thing with this in the offseason.”

The Cyclones will have limited practice time and training sessions over the course of the next five months, and Fennelly said the players’ ability to let this game fuel their fire in the offseason is very important.

With two freshmen junior college transfers and a high school senior set to join Iowa State next season, Kelsey Bolte will become the only senior on the roster.

Although the Cyclones will once again be forced to produce very young lineups in the fall, having four sophomores with NCAA Sweet 16 experience gives the team the feeling that several veterans will be able to lead the way.

“I’m really excited about what’s coming in the future,” Prins said. “Getting all of the exposure and experience we’ve had this year isn’t really normal for us, and I’m thankful that we all got this chance. We’ll be able to take quite a few things away from this game and I’m confident that this will all pay off in the future.”