Coming off a 104-45 win last Sunday, the ISU women’s basketball team will square off with Northwest Missouri State at 2 p.m. Sunday in its final exhibition game before the regular season begins.

ISU head coach Bill Fennelly said he isn’t going to change too much this game. This will be the Bearcats’ first game of the season.

“We finally had a game, so we have a point of reference to evaluate things,” Fennelly said. “We didn’t really add anything new to speak of, nothing earth-shattering.”

The same starting five of Mary Fox, Anne O’Neil, Katie Robinette, Megan Ronhovde and Brittany Wilkins will take the court first, but Fennelly said he will still get pretty much everyone into the game at some point.

“Sometimes basketball players are so driven by if they make a shot or not. If the shot goes in they play harder and they do everything harder,” Fennelly said. “We’re trying to get them to understand if the shot’s not going in you can still help your team.”

Lyndsey Medders, who was slated to start before she broke the pinkie finger on her shooting hand, is still healing. She should still log extended minutes and could return to the starting lineup by the regular season opener.

“We got a lot of people involved [in the first game], which is good,” Fennelly said. “We had 21 assists with only 11 turnovers. We didn’t shoot the threes like I hope we’re capable of, though.”

One thing Fennelly said he hopes will continue is the strong play out of the point guard position. O’Neil played 21 minutes and finished with nine assists, five points and one turnover. Medders played 22 minutes and logged eight assists, eight points and three turnovers.

“I think the big thing with them is making sure they understand there are going to be times when they’re not the first or second scoring option, but the first or second passing option,” Fennelly said.

Another key to extended success for the Cyclones is the strong post play. Robinette led the frontcourt with 26 points in only 20 minutes, with Wilkins, Lisa Kriener and newcomer Lisa Bildeaux also logging significant minutes.

“If they’re getting the job done it opens up the 3-point shot,” senior guard/forward Fox said. “And if we’re making the threes, its going to help them on the inside.”

Northwest Missouri comes into this game with a lot of new faces. It went 24-7 last year in the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association but graduated four starters.

The Cyclones start regular-season play Nov. 21 against Cleveland State.