Dropping the match-up a year ago, Iowa State women’s basketball was able to take down South Dakota State in convincing fashion on Monday. And in large part, it was thanks to a critical role from Aubrey Joens.

The Cyclones took the game by a score of 75-56 on Monday, controlling the game in most facets of the game against a strong team. Head Coach Bill Fennelly was extremely proud of the way his team played, saying that the players were working hard to earn the win.

“South Dakota State is a very, very good team, really hard to guard, but I thought defensively, kind of on the heels of what we did in Omaha, we couldn’t have guarded them any better,” Fennelly said.

Trailing 17-15 after a quarter of play, Fennelly knew that the team would have clean up their shooting and ball handling if they were going to win the game. This discussion resulted in a turnaround for the Cyclones, going from shooting 4-14 in the first quarter to 7-15 including 4-8 from three in the second.

“Two games in a row we lost the first quarter so obviously the pregame speeches suck,” Fennelly said. “Luckily, we got saved by the bell at the end of the first quarter and could regroup a little bit.”

Joens played a critical role in the win for Iowa State, pitching in nine points and nine rebounds off the bench. Fennelly knew that her shooting would be a big part of the team this season, but she showed the ability to do much more than score on Monday.

Fennelly has continually mentioned that if this team is going to win, every single player will have to rebound. Joens did this for the team, impressing Fennelly, who gave her plenty of praise after the game.

“That might have been Aubrey Joens’ best game at Iowa State,” Fennelly said. “If you want to say who the player of the game was, I would have a hard time not picking Aubrey Joens.”

For the second consecutive game, Lexi Donarski led Iowa State in scoring, this time finishing with 22 points in the game. She has made the game of basketball look simple so far this season, playing well on both sides of the ball this year.

Donarski is confident that she can shoot the ball or distribute it in any situation.

“We just have been getting a lot of shots up, especially the guards from the three-point line because we know that is a strength of the team,” Donarski said.

One of the biggest rotational questions of the night was the change from Izzi Zingaro against Omaha to Morgan Kane earning more time on Monday. Kane contributes seven point and five rebounds in 21 minutes of action but did add a lot to the team outside of the box score.

Fennelly has continually mentioned that the post position will be evaluated on a game-by-game basis, and that Kane was the best option for the team after subbing in for Maggie Vick early on.

The Cyclones will now hit the road to take on Drake in Des Moines at 6 p.m. Thursday.