This Thursday, the Iowa State women’s basketball team will have their first exhibition of the year at home versus Southwest Baptist at 6:30PM.

Southwest Baptist finished last season 15-14 in Division II.

Lineups versus Southwest Baptist

Fennelly announced Alexa Middleton, Ashley Joens, Madi Wise, Bridget Carleton and Meredith Burkhall would be the starting lineup against Southwest Baptist.

“There’s still some learning to do with each other, but I feel like we’re making great strides and getting where we want to be,” Middleton said.

Middleton, who sat out last year after transfering from Tennessee, said she has been counting the days since she last played a game of basketball and the total was well over 500.

At Tennessee, Middleton was used exclusively as a spot-up shooter for the Vols’, but at Iowa State Middleton will be the facilitator of the offense at point guard.

In addition, Fennelly announced Ines Nezerwa and Adriana Camber would be among the first players off of the bench.

“Those [players] are probably right now the top seven,” Fennelly said. “We’re going to play everyone, I don’t care what the score is.”

On the roster, there are 14 players which will figure to recieve playing time on Thursday.

Fennelly said the chemistry of this Cyclone squad is the best he has seen it in ten years.

Wise, a sophomore, said this is the best team chemistry she has had and believes it will transfer onto the court against Southwest Baptist.

Due to Iowa State’s depth, Fennelly said the team has been experimenting with lineups everyday at practice.

In establishing lineups, Fennelly said he wants versatility and the ability to give Carleton support.

Last season en route to recieving Honorable Mention AP All-American Honors, Carleton lead Iowa State in points, rebounds, steals, blocks and three-pointers made.

Through practice and exhibition, Fennelly said he hopes a lineup can solidify themselves.

“Competition’s a good thing,” Fennelly said. “They decide who plays and we are going to keep working all of them during practice and sooner or later hopefully seven or eight of them will kind of seprate a little bit.”

Of all the players, Fennelly said starters Carleton and Wise have been the most consistent in practices and scrimages.

What to to expect from the exhibition

During the exhibition, Fennelly said he wants to see organization from his team and whether or not the players are able to correctly line themselves up on the court.

With a team with several new and young players, Fennelly said he wants to see how each individual performs compared to their practice performance. Fennelly said throughout the years he has seen players who are “gamers” when it comes to gametime, but don’t perform that way in practice and vice versa.

“These exhibition games are great, expecially for the freshman just getting them into the flow of things,” Wise said.

No injuries

Fennelly credited the training staff in their ability to prepare the team for this season and said thus far no players have suffered injuries which could setback their progress.

He did say the team has been proactive in looking after Carleton and Middleton, who has had issues before with her knee.