After the loss of freshman guard TeeTee Starks for the season, the Cyclones needed someone to emerge at the point guard position and give ISU coach Bill Fennelly some depth on the bench.

Fennelly called on sophomore Emily Durr on Thursday, and she answered the call Sunday.

In Iowa State’s (7-3, 0-0 Big 12) 91-41 victory against Alcorn State (2-7, 0-0 SWAC) at Hilton Coliseum, Durr could hardly be tamed from behind the 3-point line, finishing the day 4-of-6 from long range.

She tied a career-high in points with 14 and gave point guard Jadda Buckley much-needed rests during the game by taking the ball up the court.

“I’m just trying to help Jadda,” Durr said. “She plays about 35 minutes a game and at point guard it can get really tough, especially bringing the ball up every time. So just trying to get her a break and her to rest up a little, especially with Big 12 coming.”

Although Durr shot well and finished 4-of-8 from the field, the big key was her ability to play the point guard position to give Buckley a break. Buckley entered Sunday’s game averaging 31 minutes per game all the while dealing with a foot injury and a flu bug.

But even as the secondary point guard, Durr excelled. She played 26 minutes Sunday and didn’t turn over the ball once.

“To me, the shots are great, and it’s nice to see them go into the basket for her,” Fennelly said. “But her ability to play that number of minutes and not turn the ball over once is something this team’s going to need desperately. We need another ball handler, we need another player that can play the point guard position and we’ve tred to get Emily in there.

Durr played point guard for Notre Dame High School in New York, so it wasn’t a tough transition. She even practiced playing point guard around two weeks ago, shadowing Buckley to try and learn the ins and out of bringing the ball up the court in the college game.

But Fennelly preached that Durr shouldn’t play like Buckley. Or anyone else on the team for that matter. He wanted her to take advantage of her unconventional size for a point guard and run with it. 

“[We told her to] use your length, use your size [and] take care of the ball,” Fennelly said. “Don’t try to do what Jadda does [and] don’t try to do what other point guards to do. Just distribute the ball and spot up and get us into offense and play off our defense more, and I think that was a struggle, but today that’s what she did. She didn’t try to do anything crazy.”

Playing point guard or not, Durr was in need of a big game. Entering Sunday, Durr had averaged 3.7 points and 13.9 minutes per game. She was shooting 12-of-38 from the field, 31.6 percent, and only 6-of-21 from 3-point range.

Durr’s big game was not only important for the Cyclones to find another key contributor off the bench, but for Durr to also get her confidence back.

“It felt good,” Durr said. “It’s good to get my confidence back up. I haven’t shot great from the 3 this year, so to see the ball go in is nice.”

Iowa State now faces one more non-conference game — Northern Arizona on Tuesday — before traveling to Kansas State on Dec. 30 for the start of Big 12 play. Durr’s role will increase after putting up a big game. 

This game was a step in the right direction for Durr and the Cyclones.

“Whether she was a backup point guard or not, she needed to play better,” Fennelly said. “I think she’d be the first one to tell you that, but I thought today was the Emily Durr that we need to see on a more consistent basis and hopefully that will happen.”