In its last taste of home cooking until after the Thanksgiving Break, the ISU women’s basketball team will attempt to move to 2-0 against the Sacramento State Hornets at 2 p.m. Sunday at Hilton Coliseum.

The Cyclones (1-0) are coming off of a win against Pepperdine where they went up 57-20 early in the second half, but had to hold on to win, 70-59.

Sophomore point guard Alison Lacey, who had 10 assists against the Waves, said the team needs to learn not to relax at halftime no matter the opponent.

“We got up early and I think we kind of relaxed and thought we could take a little step back,” Lacey said. “We just have to know that we have to stay focused through the whole game.”

Sacramento State, like Pepperdine, will be coming in having played more games than the Cyclones. The Hornets (0-1) dropped a 68-39 decision Sunday to UC Davis, and will play the Drake Bulldogs at the Knapp Center in Des Moines on Friday.

Coach Bill Fennelly said building momentum with this game is very important going into the Thanksgiving Tournament at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn., where the Cyclones will play Michigan and possibly Vanderbilt, which is ranked 20th in the most recent AP poll.

“The one thing we’ve been good at here over the years is we’re very serious about the next 40 minutes,” Fennelly said. “The next opportunity is really important to us and the next one for us is Sacramento State and it’s a home game.”

“It’s critical that we play the game the right way and head to that tournament 2-0.”

In two games so far, the Hornets have relied on the 3-point shot. They shot the three well in their exhibition, but went 4-for-18 in the regular season opener.

Fennelly said the Hornets have a deep rotation, which makes them different to prepare for.

“It’s going to be a little bit harder preparation because they don’t have one or two players that dictate their scoring,” Fennelly said. “We’re going to go based on what we know and it’s similar to Pepperdine in a sense that we’re going to have to do a lot of what’s important to us.”

Aside from forward Nicky Wieben’s 24 points, two of the key performances to the victory came from Lacey and sophomore junior college transfer Denae Stuckey. Lacey struggled shooting but set a career high in assists, while Stuckey led the Cyclones in rebounding for her second straight outing.

Stuckey is the smallest player on the team at 5 feet 8 inches and thinks people are surprised by her rebounding ability.

“I think that most teams underestimate that I’m like the shortest person on our team,” Stuckey said. “I just go and I box out and I end up with the rebound usually.”

Lacey, who plays the key position in any system – point guard – said she is feeling better at the point after playing shooting guard last season, but needs to continue improving with some big games coming up.

“There are still always little things I need to work on and the coaches keep reminding me of that,” Lacey said. “I feel comfortable right now where I’m at and I’m just going to have to keep improving.”