It took them a few minutes to dust the off the cobwebs, but the ISU women’s basketball team got their season started out the way they intended, with a win.

Iowa State beat the William Penn Lady Statesman on Nov. 4 in an exhibition game 99-53. Even though it didn’t count toward their overall record, ISU coach Bill Fennelly still knows how important these games are.

“I was pleased with the way we played,” Fennelly said. “It was fun to get back out and play. These games are designed hopefully for both teams to benefit. We certainly did, and I hope they do down the road.”

The Cyclones struggled in the opening minutes to get a basket to fall. They quickly got things turned around, however, jumping up to an 18-5 lead midway through the first half.

“I think we really settled in,” said sophomore guard Jadda Buckley. “We kind of got the nerves out of our systems in the beginning few seconds of our first game here in Hilton. I think we just settled down and started doing what we need to do out there.”

Four Cyclones reached double figures in points on Nov. 4, with Brynn Williamson taking the lead at 17. Buckley was right behind her with 13, and Emily Durr and Nicole Blaskowsky each finished with 11 points.

Where the team struggled though, was at the free-throw line. The Cyclones finished at just 53.8 percent from the line, something Fennelly was not very happy about.

“First of all, because it’s a pet peeve of mine, our free throw shooting is awful,” Fennelly said. “As much as we shoot free throws, it’s got to be better.”

Perhaps one of the biggest questions surrounding the team heading into the season was the post position. Fennelly, who needed to replace last years big Hallie Cristofferson, may have found his answer.

Freshmen Claire Ricketts and Bryanna Fernstrom split time at the position, and finished with eight and nine points, respectively. The two also combined for 11 total rebounds.

“I thought our freshmen post players played like freshmen post players,” Fennelly said. “We weren’t in the right place some of the time, but they kept playing and we got a lot of kids in there.”

Even though he liked some of what he saw out of both Ricketts, Fernstrom and the other post players, Fennelly knows that they still have a long ways to go.

“It’s no secret our inexperience in the post is not going to get better in one exhibition game,” Fennelly said. “Any post player that goes in the game for us has not played hardly at all, if not ever at a division one level, so there’s going to be nights like this.”

The Cyclones will see the court again on Nov. 9, when they host Winona State in their final exhibition game of the season. The biggest strides the team needs to make before then, Williamson said, was on the practice court.

“I think it’s going to be in practice more so,” Williamson said. “We come here and we want all this energy, we want all this enthusiasm…But in practice, were kind of going through the motions and being lackadaisical. I think it will be really important for us to go game speed.”