One thing’s for sure about Friday’s Cyclones season opener: Wisconsin-La Crosse isn’t walking through that door again. 

After rolling over the Eagles 93-50 in Sunday’s exhibition, Iowa State’s women’s basketball team has a tough team in its sights this week, as the South Dakota Coyotes come to town. The Coyotes are coming off of a 23-9 season in which they made it to the Women’s National Invitation Tournament, losing in the second round to Iowa by five points. 

Coach Bill Fennelly suggested that this could be the Cyclones’ toughest season opener in years. 

“Except for [at Iowa in 2000], this is the toughest opener we’ve had,” Fennelly said. “We’re playing a good team, an experienced team.”

The Coyotes run an uptempo offense, averaging 73.3 points per game last season and utilizing a wealth of ball-dominant guards to put teams on the back foot.

They prefer to spread the court out and drive at the defense, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have a strong perimeter shooting presence. The Coyotes shot 37.9 percent as a team from three last year on 22 attempts per game, and led the country in team free throw percentage at 80.4 percent. 

The Coyotes’ leading scorer from last year, junior guard Allison Arens, is also returning. Arens was voted an All-Summit League First Team player last season and scored 17.1 points per game on 48.8 percent shooting. All told, the Coyotes return four of their top five scorers from last year. 

Defensive discipline will be key for the Cyclones on Friday. South Dakota turned the ball over 14.1 times per game last season and finished with an average turnover ratio of -1.2 per game, and while forcing opponents to turn the ball over is not a staple of Fennelly’s teams, the Cyclones did force 23 turnovers against Wisconsin-La Crosse and tallied up 16 steals. 

The Cyclones’ lineup conundrum has still not been solved and Fennelly called the situation “interchangeable.” No matter who is starting for Iowa State on Friday, look for the Cyclones to push the pace and play just as fast as South Dakota.

Pushing the floor isn’t something that is new to the Fennelly-led Cyclones, as they’ve had plenty of teams over the years that played up-tempo basketball. The difference from past years, according to Fennelly, is that everyone on this team can shoot and run. 

“In the past we might have had one or two players on the court who couldn’t shoot it,” Fennelly said. “If they’re open on the three point line, they have the green light to shoot.”

This “green light for everybody” policy is a new phenomenon for the Iowa State program, and it’s not a surprise, given the unique and versatile roster the Cyclones have at their disposal. 

That versatility is what Iowa State players have said is a big plus for their team, and for junior guard Bridget Carleton, a point guard isn’t always necessary for the team to play at their best. 

“We can all make plays off the dribble,” Carleton said. “We don’t always need a point guard on the floor to do what we do.”

Whether or not the Cyclones use half court sets will be another interesting subplot to watch on Friday. In the exhibition on Sunday, Iowa State did not run a single set play over the 40 minutes.

While it was partly by design to keep their plays out of South Dakota’s grasp, the Cyclones’ ability to freelance could come up big in games over the course of the season, especially in a matchup against a fast-paced team. 

Junior forward Meredith Burkhall suggested that matchups will play a big part in decision making this year for the Cyclones on the offensive end. 

“[Play calling] depends on the pace of the game,” Burkhall said. “But if there is a chance in the half-court set, we’ll want to slow it down and get the best shot.”