Moody back at Iowa State

AMES - A week after senior guard Nikki Moody was suspended by ISU Coach Bill Fennelly for unspecified violations of team rules, the two got together for a meeting.

Fennelly saw and heard what he was hoping to.

Moody returned to practice Friday and will practice again with the team today. But she'll serve out her suspension by not playing in Iowa State's final exhibition game Sunday against Winona State at Hilton Coliseum. Fennelly said that in his meeting with Moody he saw she was apologetic and ready to put their disagreements aside.

'Right now I would say I'm optimistic we did the things we needed to do and we agree there were things that needed to be changed,” Fennelly said. 'Now it's about action. The words were right, the thought process I think was right. She was contrite, she was sincere in my mind and now it's going out and showing everybody.”

Although Moody will return to the team as a full participant starting Monday, her role as a starter won't automatically be returned to her. Fennelly said she will have to regain the trust from the coaching staff and her teammates.

In the week she was away from the team, Moody said it was tough not to be involved in team functions but that she's trying to take something from being off the court for a period of time.

'I love basketball and basketball is important to me,” Moody said. 'Taking that away and having to sit back and not be there for my teammates, it hurt, but at the same time I'm learning from it.”

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