Completed Event: Women's Basketball versus UCF on January 31, 2026 , Win , 65, to, 52
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Women's Basketball
65
UCF
52
Iowa State University Athletics
Moody Looks To Build On Freshman Experience
10.10.2012 | Women's Basketball
By Zach Gourley, Iowa State Athletics Communications
AMES, Iowa – Although Nikki Moody is just a sophomore, she finds herself in the position of being the most experienced player in the Iowa State women's basketball team's young, but talented backcourt.
AMES, Iowa – Although Nikki Moody is just a sophomore, she finds herself in the position of being the most experienced player in the Iowa State women's basketball team's young, but talented backcourt.
After starting 29 games as a true freshman, Moody said the two biggest improvements she wants to make for the coming season are her shooting, and being an extension of head coach Bill Fennelly out on the court.
“I need to be helping everybody out and making sure we're doing what Coach Fennelly wants out there and really organizing things on the floor,” Moody said. “I've also been working a lot on my shooting. I need to be able to hit more shots so I can take the pressure off our posts, so I'm looking forward to showing that.”
Moody was named to the Big 12 All-Freshman team last year after helping lead Iowa State to the NCAA Tournament while averaging 10 points per game. She was the first Cyclone freshman to average double figures in scoring since Kelsey Bolte did it in 2007. Moody also broke the Iowa State freshman record for assists in a season with 133.
Fennelly said he sees even bigger things in Moody's future because he knows what she wants to accomplish as a Cyclone.
“When I recruited her, I showed her the list of point guards that have played at Iowa State,” Fennelly said. “I mean, that's a pretty impressive list of people. She wants to be on that list with people like Lyndsey Medders, Stacy Frese, Tara Gunderson and Alison Lacey. She wants to impact the success of this university the way those people did.”
Although Moody, found plenty of success in her first year as a Cyclone, she said there were many valuable lessons learned along the way; lessons she can use to be an even better player in 2012-13.
“The biggest thing I learned is that you have to be tough,” Moody said. “Toughness and the importance of decision-making are really what I learned last year. I was nervous, especially starting out I was really nervous because I didn't know how I was going to do or what it would be like.”
Along with Moody, Brynn Williamson was another guard who saw a lot of playing time as a freshman last year. Williamson knows what Moody went through trying to be the Cyclones' floor general in her freshman season.
“Whenever you come into college basketball as a freshman, you're in panic mode,” Williamson said. “You want to impress everyone, you don't want anyone to get mad at you and you don't want to make mistakes. Now she knows this program and she knows the way it's supposed to be done. A maturity level has come about her and she holds herself a different way.”
As the Cyclones prepare for the 2012-13 season, Fennelly is confident knowing that the sophomore from Euless, Texas will be helping to lead his team, because he sees even greater accomplishments ahead for his point guard.
“I've told Nikki that if the highlight of her basketball career at Iowa State was that she made the Big 12 All-Freshman team, then she disappointed herself and I didn't do my job,” Fennelly said.
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