ISU women’s basketball guard Seanna Johnson has played in inspired form through Iowa State’s two exhibition games this season.

Although she has been limited in playing time because of a knee injury, Johnson approached the double-double mark in points and rebounds Thursday night in Iowa State’s first exhibition game against Midwestern State.

She did the same Sunday in Iowa State’s 77-51 victory against Concordia-St. Paul.

Johnson stretched her limit to 24 minutes but justified her long stay on the court by totaling 14 points and eight rebounds. Although the games are exhibitions and don’t count toward the regular season total, Johnson still wants to show the nation she has something to prove. 

She has two motivators driving her: Her brother, Jarvis, who couldn’t play basketball at Minnesota because of a heart problem, and a snub from the preseason All-Big 12 team.

Johnson isn’t known for showing her emotions, but ISU coach Bill Fennelly has taken notice of her drive. 

“I think she’s got a little bit of an edge, playing for her brother,” Fennelly said. “She’s got a little bit of whatever from the All-Conference things. The kid competes, and sometimes it doesn’t show because you can’t see it.”

But her competitive spirit showed early in the second quarter Sunday. That’s when her hot hand started to warm up.

Iowa State struggled to score early in the game, shooting around 20 percent at the end of the first quarter.

Early in the second quarter, Johnson followed a Jadda Buckley 3-pointer with one of her own to start Iowa State’s string of six long balls made in five minutes. The run helped Iowa State jump out to a 39-20 halftime lead.

Johnson left the game near the end of the third quarter, but that didn’t matter. She accomplished what she needed to.

“She’s very effective on the court, whether she’s playing a lot of minutes or not,” Buckley said. “She gets what she needs to get done on the court. She’s just an athletic player.”

Johnson has also shown some versatility through the first two games, which gives the Cyclones a chance to shake up the lineup.

In the first two games, she has seen time at guard all the way down to the forward position.

“She plays all over the place,” Fennelly said. “She creates a lot of things for our team. I think for our team to be successful down the road, her and Jadda are going to have to play at a high level.”

The season is now closing in as the Cyclones take on Hampton on Friday in their 2015 season opener, and Johnson feels as ready as ever. Fennelly said her knee is 80-85 percent back to health.

After Thursday’s game, Johnson felt ready to go.

“[My knee] is fine,” Johnson said. “It’s just a little sore after playing on it. I just went out there and didn’t worry about it and played the game.”

Her knee injury is almost nursed back to full health, and, in Fennelly’s mind, there isn’t much that can stop one of his best players this season.

“[Only] health,” Fennelly said. “If she’s healthy, I wouldn’t trade her for anybody. That sounds silly, but I really wouldn’t. She can do so many things for our team. If she has a year where she is healthy and does the things that she is physically capable to do, she’s going to put up some big-time numbers.”