After a slow start, the women’s basketball team got their season off to a solid start Thursday night with a 91-62 win over Gija Marijampole, a Lithuanian national team.

The Cyclones were led by Megan Taylor, who had 17 points. Four other Cyclones were in double figures, while two other notched nine points.

“There are obviously a million things we need to work on. We were really out of sync, the new players were nervous, and we tried too hard I think,” Fennelly said.

The Cyclones jumped out to an 11-2 lead over the Lithuania squad, which was led by Ausra Naideniene, who tallied 19 points and nine rebounds.

The Lithuainians got right back into the game with a 9-4 run, and the remainder of the first half was characterized by sloppy play and a new experiment tried by Fennelly.

“We played the first 32 minutes of the game in a man-to-man, and that’s 32 more than we’ve played in four years. Honestly, I was really disappointed with the way we played it,” Fennelly said.

The Cyclones took a 39-36 lead into the break, with Stacy Frese leading the team in scoring with nine points, going 3-4 from three-point range.

The Cyclones came out slowly in the second half, and actually fell behind 45-44 with 17:13 left to play.

A three-pointer by Taylor kicked off a 9-0 run that got ISU back in control of the contest.

The team went on a 26-4 run that put the game completely out of reach, and sent the starters to the bench.

That was not before Frese had played a game-high 31 minutes.

“That was way too many minutes for her to be playing this early in the season. But Haugen got in foul trouble, so that’s how it worked out,” Fennelly said.

The game featured the debut of two Cyclone newcomers Erica Junod and Gintare Cipinyte.

Junod looked impressive in 25 minutes, tallying six points and three assists.

“I thought she played very well. She came in and made the right calls, hit her open shots, and did a good job,” Frese said.

Cipinyte had a more uneven performance, contributing six points and nine rebounds.

“I thought Big G played OK. She was a little nervous, but she did some good things,” Fennelly said.

The coach also announced that freshmen Lindsey Wilson and Holly Bordewyk were likely to redshirt.

“We have one of the best point guards in the nation, and Erica Haugen has been practicing great this year. Lindsey is a point guard, and she just wasn’t going to get the minutes. She is the point guard of the future at Iowa State,” Fennelly said.

Bordewyk, meanwhile, was held out for much the same reason.

“Holly, we felt, was buried behind Tracy Gahan and Megan Taylor at the three spot.

“Also, we’re going to play Des [Francis] at the three to showcase her, so she wasn’t going to get the minutes,” Fennelly said.

The victory will not count toward the team’s official win total, as it is the first of two exhibitions.

The Cyclones will play Russia Pedagogical next Thursday before opening up the regular season with a game at Creighton Nov. 19.