If there was ever a time to peak, Nikki Moody is doing it at just the right time.

The senior guard is now averaging 13.5 points per game, the best on the team and shooting 42 percent from the field. The Dallas native was also just named to the Nancy Lieberman Award Watch List, an award given to the nation’s top point guard.

But wait, there’s more. Moody has led the team in scoring the past two games, scoring a career-high 30 points against Oklahoma last week, and 14 in the team’s win against West Virginia last weekend.

Moody’s performance last week was even enough to earn her the Big 12 Player of the Week award, her first. 

So is it fair to say this is the best basketball Moody has played in her ISU career?

“Well it’d be hard to argue against that,” said head coach Bill Fennelly. “We all live in the present, whether it’s really good or really bad. But right now, she’s doing the things she needs to do to give our team a chance to win … when she’s playing that way, were a pretty good team at times, so we certainly hope that continues.”

Fennelly said he sat down recently with the seniors and talked about what little time they had left and how they wanted to be remembered. After that, he saw a bit of a difference in the point guard.

“No one has ever faulted Nikki’s competitive spirit,” Fennelly said. “She loves to play, she loves to win. Sometimes we’ve had to harness that in different ways. But right now, she’s playing at an extremely high level. And when you’re playing at a high level and you’re a point guard, that goes a long way.”

Moody herself isn’t even sure when things really started to click for her, saying that it “just happened.” She doesn’t take all of the credit for the team’s recent success, but instead credits the team as a whole.

But with her ISU career quickly coming to a close, she isn’t looking at it as a sad thing. Instead, she’s just trying to make the most of the time she has left.

“Some people, when it comes to the end, think it’s kind of a sad thing,” Moody said. “But I’m excited because I just have so much more to play for. I’m just ready to be going to the next step and just start my life. I’m pretty excited about it.”

Buckley seeks medical redshirt

After weeks of uncertainty, a decision has finally been made.

Sophomore Jadda Buckley will now seek a medical redshirt and will miss the rest of the season.

“Really, it was pretty easy because she’s just not ready,” said head coach Bill Fennelly. “Her health is not where it needs to be for her to play at the level where she can play or she wants to play. Obviously, she’s a big part of our team and it’d be great to have her back, but we need to take care of her first and it just isn’t where it needed to be.”

Buckley first suffered what team officials called a “stress injury” in her foot in November. She immediately shrugged the injury off, continuing to play off and on for the next few games.

Eventually, the injury became too much and Buckley decided it was time to take a break.

“[Buckley] is a kid that wants to play,” Fennelly said. “Jadda is a kid that does not sit down very well. She wants to go. Having made this decision now, she knows what the long-term plan can be and can go through the spring and make 100 percent sure — as much as you can be 100 percent sure — that she’s healthy.”

Fennelly said that the decision to seek a medical redshirt was a difficult one, but one that was made in the best interest of the sophomore. Fennelly also said the decision was ultimately up to Buckley and her family.

Should the redshirt go through, which Fennelly fully expects to happen, Buckley will have three years of eligibility left. The Mason City, Iowa native averaged 9.4 points and 2.3 assists in the nine games she played this season.