ISU women’s basketball coach Bill Fennelly said during the off-season that this will be the year junior forward Nicky Wieben decides whether she wants to be just a good college player or step up and be an All-Conference player.

If the first half of Sunday’s game against Pepperdine is any indication of how her season will go, opponents should take notice.

Wieben made 8 of 10 shots, including a 3-pointer, from the field and added four free throws to run up 21 first-half points, while the Cyclones had two 12-0 runs in the opening stanza and took a 38-12 lead.

Iowa State defeated the Waves thanks to a 36-16 Wieben-led edge in the paint, which helped make up for a 24-percent 3-point shooting night.

Fennelly said the post players, especially Wieben, made up for a surprising off-night by guards Heather Ezell and Alison Lacey.

“If you would have said before the game Heather and Aus [Alison] were going to go 3 of 15 and we would win going away, people would have been be surprised,” Fennelly said. “Sometimes you live and die by the 3-point shot, and we would have died tonight, but our post players bailed us out.”

Wieben ended up with 24 points, six rebounds and four blocks on nine of 15 shooting and also was a big part of a defensive effort that held Pepperdine without a field goal until the 12:53 mark of the first half.

Wieben said some sour memories of last season’s game and her matchups with the Waves’ post players motivated her to the big performance this time.

“I wanted to come into this game and prove to myself I can play against the post players,” Wieben said. “I wanted to do everything I could for the team and we came out with a win, and that’s really all that matters.”

Lacey said Wieben’s and the other post players’ efforts on the interior took the pressure to score off of her.

“If they’re going to keep making it inside, I’m going to keep giving it in,” Lacey said. “If I don’t have to shoot a 3-point shot and Wieben’s hitting from inside I’ll give it to her every time.”

The only negative about Wieben’s night may have been her free-throw shooting. Wieben, who made just under 79 percent from the stripe last season, shot only 5 for 10 from the line.

“The thing she is disappointed in, she didn’t make her free throws and she is a very good free-throw shooter,” Fennelly said. “She could have scored a ton more points.”

Fennelly said four of the first five plays were called to get the ball inside and that is what got Wieben going.

“We really wanted to attack the basket and get our kids engaged in what was going on,” Fennelly said. “She wanted the ball and to our kids’ credit, they kept throwing her ball.”

Wieben started last season with 20 points in the first game against Cal State Fullerton and started her freshman season with a double-figure scoring game.

Fennelly said this game is one she can build on for the rest of the season.

“The good thing for Nicky is that she had a great start,” Fennelly said. “The bad thing is now we’ll hold her to a higher standard.”