Completed Event: Women's Basketball versus UCF on January 31, 2026 , Win , 65, to, 52
Final
Women's Basketball
65
UCF
52
Iowa State University Athletics
Women's Basketball Preseason Work Going Strong
09.29.2009 | Women's Basketball
AMES, Iowa ? The 2008-09 Iowa State women's basketball season was a banner year, but as exciting as a trip the NCAA Elite Eight was, it is now clearly in the past and the process has begun again from scratch.
The 2009-10 Cyclones will look vastly different than a season ago with five newcomers joining the mix. The four freshmen made it to campus this summer to begin the transition, while Chassidy Cole, a sophomore junior college transfer, wasn't able to make it to Ames until the start of school. The freshmen got a great jumpstart on the process and Cole has had an even easier transition than the ISU coaching staff could have hoped.
“Really the approach has been the same (as other seasons),” ISU head coach Bill Fennelly said. “We've counted on our returning players to set the tone. We had a great summer. Aus (Alison Lacey), Kelsey Bolte and Whitney (Williams) did a great job of getting the freshmen organized and acclimated to what was going to happen. I think we came into the fall a little farther ahead than we thought we would from a conditioning standpoint and the approach of what they need to do, so that was good.”
The Cyclones will start the regular practice schedule on Oct. 16, but since school has started the coaches have had a chance to work with players for eight hours each week, with only two of those hours available on the practice court. Up until Sept. 15, the coaches were also only permitted to work with four student-athletes at a time. With three new post players, a lot of that time as been spent on fundamentals.
“We really segmented our post players and let them do their own thing and the guards were a little more advanced except for Chassidy and Jess (Schroll), of course,” Fennelly said. “We had six small group workouts, which allowed them to at least see the tempo, pace of the game, things we wanted them to learn early, and gave us a chance to evaluate where they are. We've had to make some changes. You know the kind of players they are (when you recruit them), but there are still things that need to be corrected. You might as well do it early.”
This week the team was able to start practicing together for its two-hour limit. The other six hours per week are spent on conditioning and weight lifting. When the calendar hits Oct. 16, Fennelly wants his team to understand the expectations he has for them and have them ready to go from a conditioning stand point.
“Now that we have transitioned to the team stuff, we have started putting in transition offense and some core defensive stuff,” Fennelly said. “We have nine of them all together. You want to get through these (team sessions) and feel like you are going into the start of practice knowing sort of how we want to play, how we play defense, and the basic organizational structure of our offense. From there we will see who is ready.”
Two things have come as a pleasant surprise for Fennelly in the preseason work. First, he is exceptionally happy about the conditioning of the team. And second, he believes the chemistry of the squad both on and off the court is excellent.
“I think the biggest surprise has been the overall conditioning level is really good,” Fennelly said. “It is better than I ever anticipated. Also, the fact that for a team that has five seniors, five new people and two in the middle, the chemistry of our team has been very good early. We're not ready to go out and beat a Big 12 team, but I'm very pleased with where we are. Everyone is trying and the conditioning level as a whole is the best it's been since I've been here.”
ISU junior Kelsey Bolte agreed with Fennelly's assessment.
“I think this preseason we've really focused on coming together as a team and showing each other that we are going to be there, even more than in past years,” Bolte said. “This year we are doing a lot more group activities together and spending a lot more time together. All in all, we are just working really hard together, whether it's in the weight room or running in the morning, or even playing pickup in the afternoon.”
The Cyclones lost five seniors, including three starters, from its Elite Eight squad from a season ago. For that reason, Fennelly believes it will be easier for this team to start over and build on its momentum, rather than resting on the successes of last season.
“You always have to start over,” Fennelly said. “That's the thing about college athletics. Our record is not 27-9, it is 0-0. It's a little bit easier because we lost so much. We lost five seniors that were really important to our team. We only have 25 points and 13 rebounds per game returning. I think by the same token, we do have the expectations for how you approach your work and what it means to play here and the way you act. I think our players are smart enough to understand it, but that's part of our job on a daily basis is to create an atmosphere where the work ethic has to be there or the results don't happen.”
The bottom line is if the players are willing to put in the work, the improvement will come, and putting in the work has become a much easier prospect with the opening of the new basketball practice facility. Student-athletes have 24-hour access to their very own gym and weight room.
As Fennelly said, there are no excuses.
“We have waited for 15 years for this to happen (a practice facility),” Fennelly said. “Initially what it means is that our players now don't have an excuse not to work on their game. They have a phenomenal place to go 24 hours a day, seven days a week, if they want to work at it. Basketball is a sport you can get better by yourself and there are not many sports you can say that about. You can shoot and you can lift and get better.”
One of the many bonuses of the new facility is a much easier task of scheduling. Now practices can be scheduled around the student-athletes' class schedule instead of trying to fit in a practice among classes, other team or facility schedules.
“Last year during the week it was hard to get our team together to practice,” Fennelly said. “Now we can practice and it doesn't matter what time the men are practicing or what time there is a class in the Forker building. It's a place that basketball players can call home. This is where we are, whether we are in the lounge, locker room, the court and it's the final piece of what we needed to feel complete. We play in a great place, but we couldn't get in there everyday. We couldn't get everyone there everyday. Now we have the final piece of the puzzle to allow us to do the work it takes to be good. The next challenge will be, do we take advantage of the building? Now we don't have an excuse.”
Click on the slideout tab above in the photo that says "Links" to see photos of the women's basketball team workouts at the new facility.
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