Cyclones need Moody to play more minutes in Buckley’s absence

By Dylan Montz, The Gazette

AMES - It wasn't the easiest of practices Thursday when Iowa State returned to Ames.

The Cyclones returned to campus after dropping a road game to TCU by two points - after holding a 24-point lead in the second half - and talked about ways to move forward.

'You always learn something, but I think the biggest thing we learned was we have to do things a certain way,” ISU coach Bill Fennelly said on Friday. 'We talk about that all the time, we have to play the game a certain way to be successful.”

Iowa State will have little time to put the game against the Horned Frogs out of its mind, as the Cyclones will host No. 3 Texas on Saturday. One of the things that became apparent is how crucial minutes played by senior guard Nikki Moody will be.

Moody has averaged just 24.3 minutes in Iowa State's (10-3, 1-1) three losses and been in foul trouble in each, playing just 15 minutes against TCU before fouling out. She knows she has to stay aggressive on defense, but has to find the balance on how to do it.

'I have to stay on the floor,” Moody said. 'I have to pick and choose which fouls I can take and which ones I have to let go sometimes.”

Having Moody on the floor as much as possible will be even more crucial without sophomore guard Jadda Buckley to lean on. Buckley has suffered from a lingering stress injury in her foot and will not dress against the Longhorns (13-0, 2-0) or Jan. 13 against Baylor.

Fennelly has certainly paid attention to Moody's statistics on minutes played, and if things shake out like they did at TCU, it's pretty clear to him how things could go.

'We've got a problem. You'll be writing your story early,” Fennelly told the media. 'We've got to do a better job, she's got to do a better job of staying out of foul trouble and we've got to figure out better ways to do that than we've been doing it. Hopefully tomorrow it will be in the 30-somethings, that would be a lot better.”

Tipoff between the Cyclones and Longhorns is scheduled for 11 a.m. at Hilton Coliseum and will be televised on FSN.