Prior to its first game at the Junkanoo Jam in the Bahamas, the Iowa State women’s basketball team was hindered by numerous question marks.

Who was going to shoulder the load with Bridget Carleton? What post player would step up? Can the freshman stay consistent?

After a 67-64 win against Tulane in the tournament opener earlier today, several of those questions were answered.

Here are three takeaways from today’s win against the Green Wave.

Bridget Carleton gets assistance

In two of the Cyclones’ first three games, junior guard Bridget Carleton was the x-factor. She scored 24 points in their season opener against South Dakota and another 18 against Northern Iowa. On top of that, Carleton also tallied 14 rebounds in those two games.

Head coach Bill Fennelly said he wouldn’t trade Carleton for any player in the country at media day, but he also noted that the Chatham, Ontario, Canada native couldn’t shoulder the load by herself all season.

Finally, against UMKC on Monday and Tulane today, Carleton wasn’t the only one willing the Cyclones to victory. Against UMKC, freshman Madison Wise exploded for a double-double after recording 15 points and 15 rebounds.

In Bimini, Bahamas, junior Meredith Burkhall and senior Emily Durr once again helped Carleton shoulder the load. Burkhall tallied 16 points and eight rebounds in just 24 minutes.

The bigger story of the two was Durr. The New York native sat out the entirety of the Northern Iowa game and played just 10 minutes against UMKC after going down with a knee injury against South Dakota.

Durr came back in fashion as she tied for a team-high 19 points and added two rebounds. More importantly, Durr was able to spread the ball around and contributed with four assists.

If the Cyclones want to compete, then this perceived ‘big three’ must dominate the floor like they did against Tulane. Specifically, Durr needs to be a 3-point threat and Burkhall needs to continue to snag big rebounds.

Post play improves, but still not perfect

In Iowa State’s first game of the season, they recorded an abysmal five offensive rebounds. In its second game it jumped to 12. Against UMKC it skyrocketed to 20. Today against Tulane, it dipped to 18, but it was still better than the five and 12 in its first two games.

And like before, Burkhall was the one to step up. The Cyclones have four post players – Kristin Scott, Bride Kennedy-Hopoate, Claire Ricketts and Burkhall – and of the four, Burkhall is the catalyst.

Last year, Burkhall averaged eight points and 5.6 rebounds per game, but so far this year, the Iowa native is averaging 8.8 points and bumped up her rebounding average to six per game. But six isn’t enough.

And luckily for the Cyclones, that’s where Scott and Kennedy-Hopoate step in. Scott at 6-foot-3 and Kennedy-Hopoate at 6-foot-4, offer a size advantage that hasn’t been in Ames for years.

While Kennedy-Hopoate hasn’t lived up to her rebounding expectations yet, Scott has. Scott has quite possibly surpassed expectations and showed her post dominance today with 10 rebounds, five of which were offensive.

While the post play hasn’t been dominant on the glass, the main trio has consistently been in foul trouble.

Through four games, Burkhall, Kennedy-Hopoate, and Scott have accumulated 31 fouls. That’s an average of 7.75 per game and on three occasions, at least one has reached four fouls, one shy of fouling out.

It’s been a rollercoaster ride for Fennelly and the post players so far, but it’s trending upwards on the offensive glass, which is certainly a positive for a team that will have a consistent size advantage for most of the season.

Freshman stay inconsistent

They’re just freshman, but the three rookies have proved to be the most inconsistent players of the bunch. And tossing in junior college transfer Kennedy-Hopoate with the three, it doesn’t look much better.

Prior to the Tulane game, Wise exploded against UMKC and today, she dipped to four points and three rebounds. This wasn’t the first time that a freshman had a big game, only to follow it up with a lackluster performance.

Rae Johnson and Wise opened their college career with ten points each against South Dakota, only to follow it up with one and four points, respectively, the following game. It doesn’t stop there.

Scott added a double-double against UMKC, but today she finished with just one point. Kennedy-Hopoate, on the other hand, has arguably been the most consistent, although the big numbers haven’t been there.

The Australian has recorded two six-point games, a five-point game and a seven-point game. And she has chipped in 4.3 rebounds per game. While her minutes have dipped, it is encouraging to see that the numbers have stayed consistent.

With a young team, the three freshmen and JUCO transfer need to flip the switch and have consistent showings. Once that happens, this team has potential in a Big 12 conference that is loaded from top to bottom with talent.