The No. 13 Cyclone women’s basketball team felt the pressure of its ranking during the first week of the season.

Its response, though far from perfect, was promising as it cruised to a 2-1 record to open the year.

After back-to-back blowouts of touring exhibition squads, Iowa State opened its official slate on the road at Creighton.

The Bluejays, focusing on the potent Cyclone perimeter game, set the table for Angie Welle’s breakout game and a 77-61 ISU win.

The sophomore center had been limited in effectiveness over the course of the exhibition season but was dominant against the Bluejays, accounting for a game-high 23 points.

Welle also managed seven rebounds, including five off the offensive glass.

“You have to give something up,” Creighton head coach Connie Yori said. “You can’t guard Iowa State and take away everything. Angie’s a good enough player that she kicked our tail inside.”

Megan Taylor was also impressive in Omaha, tallying seven boards and 14 points.

Desiree Francis rounded out ISU’s double-digit scoring with 15 points, despite just playing 18 minutes.

“I was ecstatic with how we played in the first half,” coach Bill Fennelly said. “It’s kind of surprising to play that well in the first half of the first game.”

ISU took a 49-24 lead into the locker room before emerging with the 77-61 win.

Two days later, the Cyclones were back on the road, this time tangling with perennial powerhouse Stanford.

The Cardinal hasn’t been as effective of late, falling out of the top 25, but called upon its big-game experience to send ISU home with a 95-82 loss.

“We didn’t play like we were one of the top teams in the nation,” ISU point guard Stacy Frese said after the loss. “We just didn’t play hard enough.”

Behind early, Stanford used a 12-0 run late in the first half to take a lead they would never relinquish.

The Cardinal outshot ISU during the game but owed most of its success to a 36-24 rebounding advantage and sub-.500 shooting performances from Taylor and Frese, who led ISU with 23 and 18 points, respectively.

Bethany Donaphin led the Stanford charge with a career-high 26 points.

“The middle of the zone was pretty open,” Donaphin said. “I was loving that spot. It was a good spot to score or to kick the ball back out again.”

Lauren St. Clair nailed the Cyclone coffin shut in the second half with a quartet of clutch three-pointers.

Welle was again impressive, scoring 12 points and pulling down seven rebounds, second only to Taylor’s nine.

After the game, Fennelly didn’t just blame his players for the loss.

“That was about three minutes of the worst substituting I’ve ever done,” he said. “When we subbed, we didn’t get the same type of defensive pressure.”

The loss may not be too devastating to the Cyclones, as the Cardinal also managed an amazing upset early last season, dropping eventual national champion Purdue.

After the game and another short two-day break, ISU rebounded with an impressive 83-64 win over the San Francisco Dons.

Despite falling behind 12-4, the Cyclones used a 33-5 run to take control of the game.

Frese bounced back to lead all players with 17 points, including a trio of three-pointers.

Taylor and Francis also broke into double-digits with 16 and 15 points, respectively.

Welle led all players with nine rebounds, with Francis and Taylor close behind with eight and seven, respectively.

The biggest surprise for ISU was the inspired play of freshman Lindsay Wilson.

After totaling just seven points so far this season, the point guard managed 13 points against the Dons.

Portions of this story were contributed by The Associated Press.