The Cyclone women’s basketball team rebounded from its first loss of the season on Friday to win the Insight.Com Bowl tournament consolation game Sunday and extend their record to 5-1.

Iowa State opened the weekend tourney with its much-anticipated matchup against No. 2 Louisiana Tech on Friday night.

What wasn’t as much-anticipated was standout point guard Stacy Frese’s lingering ankle injury that sidelined the junior for both weekend contests.

“We didn’t get the evaluation we wanted to this weekend,” Head Coach Bill Fennelly said, “because we were missing Stacy.”

Without their floor leader, the Cyclones couldn’t run with the highly talented Lady Techsters, eventually falling 89-60.

ISU hung with Louisiana Tech for most of the first half and entered the break only down 11, at 43-32.

In the second half, the Cyclones were frustrated by what appeared to be a more physical, more athletic Lady Techster team.

“Obviously, Louisiana Tech is a great team,” Fennelly said after the game.

“They’re the best team we’ve played against in my four years at Iowa State,” he said.

Desiree Francis and Megan Taylor of the Cyclones were, arguably, the best players on the court, notching 24 and 23 points, respectively, to lead all scorers. Francis also led all players with 12 rebounds.

Unfortunately, the Lady Techsters answered the two-pronged Cyclone attack with very balanced all-around play, featuring four players in double figures and one of the deepest benches ISU has ever faced.

The Cyclones committed 21 turnovers and were outrebounded 45-38 on the night.

Yesterday, facing a pesky Sam Houston State team in the tournament consolation game, the Cyclones overcame some early sluggishness to post an 82-56 win.

Again led by Taylor and Francis, ISU opened up a 14-point halftime lead before completing the rout in the second frame.

The Cyclones trailed 20-14 in the early going, but seven unanswered points by Taylor gave ISU the lead and turned the game around.

“We seemed to still be numb from Friday,” Fennelly said. “It took us awhile to get going. We got some transition baskets from Megan and that got us going in the first half.”

Taylor led all scorers with 27 points, and Francis was close behind with 23 in her first start of the season.

“Des was a little nervous getting her first start,” Fennelly said. “She missed a couple of shots in the beginning that she’s been making, but she got it going for us as the game progressed.”

Francis also dominated the boards against a much smaller Bearkat team, picking up one more rebound than the entire Sam Houston State starting lineup.

Her total of 13 was more than three times as many as any Bearkat player.

The Cyclones, as a team, outrebounded SHSU 44-19.

“We knew we had a distinct advantage in the post,” Fennelly said.

“We did a lot of good things, but the advantage for our team was inside with the size factor,” he said.

Taylor and junior Monica Huelman were also all over the glass, picking up nine rebounds apiece.

Freshman Angie Welle rounded out the double-digit ISU scorers with 10 points in 22 minutes.

Erica Haugen, again replacing the injured Frese, responded with 36 quality minutes in which she piled up 11 assists to go with only three turnovers.

“Erica got a lot of very valuable minutes this weekend,” Fennelly said. “She’s done a lot of good things for us.”

However, Fennelly doesn’t underestimate the importance of getting his star point guard back in the lineup.

“The key to success, long-term, for this team is to have Stacy Frese in the starting lineup.”

Frese may be able to play at home next Saturday against the visiting Drake Bulldogs. Sitting on the sidelines with what was originally thought to be a minor injury has not been fun for the team leader.

“It’s time to get better,” Frese said. “I just want to play.”