Every season, Bill Fennelly defines one very clear goal for the Iowa State women’s basketball team. That is to be the best team in the state. Tonight at Hilton Coliseum, the Cyclones will begin their quest toward that when the Drake Bulldogs head north on I-35 for a November rivalry game.
The Bulldogs enter the game 0-1 after dropping their season opener against South Dakota by a score of 83-78 last Friday. Despite that loss, Fennelly says that his players know the importance of this matchup.
“If they don’t then they’re tone deaf because we talk about it a lot around here,” Fennelly said. “It’s important to us, I’m not going to lie. These games mean a lot. The attention that our sport gets is great, but it means a lot to our fan base.”
Iowa State will enter the game 1-0 after defeating USC-Upstate 98-76 on Sunday. The Cyclones were led by freshman post Bryanna Fernstrom, who finished with 25 points, a new record for a Cyclone freshman making their career debut.
Fernstrom, who was named the Big 12 Freshman of the Week on Monday, isn’t going to let her big performance get to her head, but she still feels more comfortable than she did before game number one.
“I’m not trying to score 25 points a game,” Fernstrom said. “But I’m just going to try to be comfortable and do what I need to do.”
Iowa State’s game with Drake will tip off at 7 p.m. and can be seen on Cyclones.tv.
