For the first time in weeks, the ISU women’s basketball team has something to smile about.

Since junior Nicky Wieben joined senior Toccarra Ross on the bench for the rest of the year with an ACL tear on Jan. 16, Iowa State has dropped three consecutive conference games.

But the shorthanded Cyclones are still making the best of what they have.

“This is one of those moments in coaching that you really appreciate,” said coach Bill Fennelly. “Our team has been beaten down pretty badly over the last three weeks, and to see them smile and enjoy what they did tonight, it means a lot. With two of your preseason starters sidelined with season-ending injuries, sometimes you have to be creative to win games.”

On the spur of the moment Wednesday night, Fennelly decided to innovate the offensive game plan against visiting Colorado.

When Jocelyn Anderson, who has been carrying the majority of the load in the post since the losses of Ross and Wieben, went to the bench in foul trouble in the first half, the Cyclones were forced to play an undersized lineup.

With Anderson out, Iowa State’s tallest player on the court stood just 6 feet 1 inch, which forced Amanda Nisleit and Genesis Lightbourne to step up.

In response to the small lineup, Fennelly took advantage of the NCAA’s lack of a 10-second violation in women’s basketball. At the start of each possession, the Cyclones held the ball in their own backcourt for at least 15 seconds.

“Coach told us not to shoot – unless we’re wide open – before about 15 seconds left on the shot clock,” said junior Heather Ezell. “And we were able to take care of the ball and get some good shots off inside of 15 seconds.”

Guards Ezell and Alison Lacey were forced to take control of the game in this unorthodox fashion after the idea was sprung on them by Fennelly during a timeout in the middle of the first period.

“We have talked about this before, but never practiced the situation,” Fennelly said. “We didn’t have to play up and down and put [Lightbourne and Nisleit] in a bad spot, so our decision was to slow the game down and milk the clock a little bit.”

Ezell and Lacey were able to handle the transition in tempo without skipping a beat.

“They managed the game brilliantly,” said Fennelly. “In the last seven-and-a-half minutes of that half, they managed the game just as well as any guards that have ever played here.”