Iowa State women’s basketball coach Bill Fennelly has said time and time again that the only way he’d walk through an alley on the rough side of Des Moines is with Denae Fritz accompanying him.
Fennelly has raved about her toughness and Cyclone fans have seen it firsthand, even if it only lasted three games through last season.
“People are going to love watching her play,” Fennelly said.
The Maryville, Tenn. native played in the first three games of last year, concluding with the win over Drake where fans watched her on the court for 31 minutes.
She finished with a 4-7 mark from the field, scoring 12 points, and put on an effort-filled show.
It was the first real preview of the potential behind the 5-foot-11 guard.
Then she got hurt.
“For me, it was really tough in the beginning,” Fritz said. “I was really getting comfortable with the system, getting into plays and stuff like that. I didn’t know what to expect.”
Fritz would be sidelined for the rest of the year with an injury in her foot.
It was a lingering issue, and she held off on telling team doctors until the pain got less bearable.
The Iowa State staff was surprised that she was even able to walk on her injured foot, let alone play 31 minutes of competitive basketball.
“I think I just have a high pain tolerance I guess you could say,” Fritz said. “I wanted to play, but once it got too bad I had to let the medical staff know.”
That might be the best qualifier for the toughness that she has in her game.
Fennelly has said multiple times over that she’s the toughest player on an Iowa State team with sky-high pre-season expectations.
He said as much following the Drake win, before knowing Fritz would be out for the year, because of the character she showed in game three of the season.
“She wants to play,” Fennelly said. “She wants to compete. She’s got an ‘it factor to her.’ We scrimmaged (in October) and she had a really good day and she’s talking you-know-what to the scout team guys the whole time. I thought that was kind of funny.”
When looking at the roster behind this team – one that was picked to finish first in the Big 12 and returns nearly all of its scoring off of a Sweet 16 year – it’s easy to think the normal point-getters will stay the same.
But don’t overlook the X-factors in Fritz or NAIA transfer Stephanie Soares. Both will play big roles in this Iowa State team.
In Fritz’s case, though, getting back onto the floor will be the most rewarding accomplishment, at least for the first part of the season. She’s exploring every way to do so, too.
“I’ve been out for like a whole year,” Fritz said. “That’s never happened for me. It was hard to watch all of my teammates go out there and play without me. I just want to contribute at every aspect the team needs me to. The biggest thing for me right now is probably defensive-wise. We have a lot of people that can score, (defense) is what I want to work on.”
Iowa State kicks off the Hilton Coliseum season Wednesday with an exhibition against Winona State (6:30 p.m.).
Fritz will get her shot to shine and it will be in a characteristic of toughness that this team will use to its strength.
“She’s going to impact our team dramatically,” Fennelly said. “She’s going to be a big, big piece of what we do.”
