Monday night I watched as the Iowa State women’s basketball team struggled with Missouri-Kansas City. The Cyclones never trailed and ended up winning by 16, but the Kangaroos aren’t exactly the toughest competition Iowa State has, or will, face this season. While the 16-point margin of victory was solid, the 21 turnovers and 36.7 percent field goal percentage were less than ideal for coach Bill Fennelly.

With two of the top three players from last year gone — both Jadda Buckley and Seanna Johnson received All-Big 12 awards after last season and currently sit in various high places in the Cyclone record books — I don’t think people would be too surprised to hear that this year’s team is off to a sluggish start.

But the future of Cyclone women’s basketball looks pretty dang good, so long as Madison Wise and Kristin Scott are in Ames.

There have been a number of issues with this team early in the season. There isn’t a true point guard, senior and team leader Emily Durr has been injured and the post play has been suspect at times. The pieces are in place, however, for this team to improve drastically from November to March.

For starters, junior guard Bridget Carleton remains one of the best players in the Big 12, regardless of what the voters for the preseason All-Big 12 team said. She’s averaging 17.7 points, 6.7 rebounds and four assists per game through the first three contests of the season, and she’s at two blocks and more than two steals per game as well. Simply put, she’s as reliable as any player Iowa State has had in recent years and her talent gives Iowa State a chance against almost anyone.

Monday was the first time this season where Carleton got some real help from her teammates. The encouraging part for Cyclone fans?

“The two freshmen [Wise and Scott] were great,” Fennelly said.

Madison Wise made her first career start and she certainly didn’t disappoint.

“Maddie got her first start and she plays hard,” Fennelly said. “That’s the thing with Maddie. She makes mistakes but you go out there and you get 15 points and 15 rebounds — she’s one of those kids I think at this age, she’s gonna fill up the stat sheet, good and bad, and that’s a good thing.”

Wise played a team-high 37 minutes for the Cyclones in her first career start. Her 15 points and 15 rebounds were both game-highs. For a team lacking a second go-to weapon with the absence of Durr, Wise’s game was huge.

In the summer, Fennelly told the Daily he could see Wise playing point guard. Against UMKC and its full-court press, Wise tied for the team lead with three assists. She’s currently in third for total assists this season behind Carleton, Durr and fellow freshman Rae Johnson, but that will likely change in some way once Durr is back near 100 percent.

But 15 rebounds in one game for a guard? That’s not normal, even for an Iowa State team that was frequently led on the glass last year by Seanna Johnson, also a guard.

“Obviously our shots weren’t falling so rebounding was really important,” Wise said. “You always have to expect a miss.”

Kristin Scott’s performance was just as impressive.

Scott currently leads the Cyclones with 10 rebounds per game and is third — behind Carleton and Wise — with 8.7 points per game.

And sure, the freshmen aren’t the only players helping Carleton. Junior Meredith Burkhall had 12 points and seven rebounds against UMKC, and others made plays as well. But in the end, the spotlight was on Wise and Scott.

Iowa State has two double-doubles this season. Both came against UMKC and both came from freshmen. While it’s no given that Wise and Scott will continue to improve and play at this rate, the talent is certainly there.

After losing two talented players from the same class a year ago, it’s a good sign for Bill Fennelly’s program that another dynamic duo seems to be emerging.