Iowa State led Midwestern State 32-24 heading into halftime in ISU women’s basketball’s season-opening exhibition game Thursday night.

The Cyclones were leading by eight points, but it wasn’t where ISU coach Bill Fennelly wanted to be. Fennelly came into the locker room and talked to his players about calming down some of the early-game nerves. 

“Before the game, I don’t think our kids could breathe,” Fennelly said. “They were ultra-excited or whatever.”

After halftime, the team came out like a new group, nerves apparently stripped away.

Iowa State jumped all over Midwestern State out of the locker room and promptly went on a 21-0 run to start the third quarter. The Cyclones almost held the Mustangs scoreless in the entire quarter, but Midwestern State knocked down back-to-back shots to grab five points late in the period.

Iowa State dominated almost as much in the final quarter and ended up outscoring the Mustangs 47-12 in the second half on the team’s way to a 79-36 victory.

The slow first-half start could be attributed to first-game nerves, and the players realized that coming out of the half.

“I think we had the jitters like the freshmen in the first game,” said guard Seanna Johnson, who was limited to 20 minutes on the night because of a knee injury. “Everyone was nervous — anxious. I think we got the feel in the first half, and in the second half, we came out more ready.”

The scoring spree was helped in particular by Johnson, Bridget Carleton and Meredith Burkhall, who combined to score 26 of the Cyclones’ 47 points in the second half.

Carleton, a freshman from Canada, has been highly touted by the ISU coaching staff heading into the season. She lived up to that hype in her first game action, leading the team in points and minutes with 19 and 36, respectively.

Fennelly was happy with Carleton’s effort, but he thought she could’ve played better.

“I think she should be better,” Fennelly said. “I’ve told her that. She’s got a chance to be good. We’re asking a lot, but there are some things that she can do better [and] can play multiple positions. She’s someone who can really be good.

“There’s even a bigger upside for her down the road.”

While Carleton has played successfully throughout her career, this game was particularly special for her, taking the court for the first time as a Cyclone. 

“It was really fun,” Carleton said. “The fans were all into it. I had some nerves at first, but it was awesome. Yeah, it was good to just get out there and play the game for the first time. … Whenever I had on open shot, I took it. And some of those shots fell.”

Carleton wasn’t the only freshman who played well for Iowa State. Burkhall, playing in the forward spot, put up 14 points and grabbed seven rebounds in her first game action as a Cyclone.

Burkhall was almost as effective on the defensive side of the ball as she was on offense, grabbing five defensive rebounds and registering a block.

Although the two freshmen played through nerves, they still stood out on the court.

“I thought both our freshmen were really good,” Fennelly said. “Both of them were a little nervous like you would expect.

“Our fans are going to love them.”

Even though it was an exhibition game, Fennelly was pleased with what he saw. His main takeaway from the game: There are still some things to work on, but the future looks bright once Johnson returns to full health and TeeTee Starks recovers from a concussion. 

“We’ve got a lot of things to work on, obviously,” Fennelly said. “This team wants to be good and wants to be coached. Once we get everyone dressed and available, we’ll have some options.”