Moody propels ISU past Drake

AMES -ISU Coach Bill Fennelly has repeated this mantra to his team often: '40 minutes, 40 minutes, 40 minutes.”

He'll be saying it a few more times when his team returns to practice.

Iowa State started out slowly, but opened a 28-point second-half lead Tuesday night en route to an 84-67 victory against Drake in Hilton Coliseum.

The Cyclones (2-0) were propelled to the victory by senior Nikki Moody, who finished with 18 points, 12 assists and eight rebounds - just two rebounds shy of a triple-double.

Getting the victory was the good part for Iowa State, but it's what happened for about an eight-minute stretch in the second half that Fennelly said needs to be corrected.

'The issue right now is, we play a good high school game, 32 minutes. Unfortunately, the game is 40,” Fennelly said. 'We decide that when we get ahead 28 points we can just shut it down and not play the game the right way. That falls strictly on me and it's got to get corrected because it's wrong.”

The Cyclones experimented with a five-guard lineup during stretches of the game, with Moody asserting herself offensively in the second half. She recorded 15 of her 18 points in the final period and was 5 of 9 from 3-point range.

While she was the do-it-all spark for Iowa State in its five-guard set, there's still plenty that can be worked on after the ISU defense gave up 46 second-half points to the Bulldogs (0-2).

'I could have done a lot better,” Moody said. 'I feel like I didn't take control of the offense like I should have and I feel like in a sense I feel like I let my teammates down with the turnovers we had and the mistakes we made on some plays.”

A benefactor of the five-guard lineup was freshman Emily Durr. In just her second college game, she tallied 14 points and six rebounds in 22 minutes of action.

Without much of a post presence against Drake, Fennelly - who had implemented a plan to use five guards during practice - decided to switch whatever he could to find a spark. In addition to Moody, Durr did was she could with 5-of-10 shooting.

'I'm glad Coach had confidence in me and I'm glad I could fit a role we needed tonight,” Durr said. 'How many minutes I play isn't a big deal as long as we get the W.”

Finding a way for his team to buy into playing the full 40 minutes is what Fennelly will be tasked with in practice this week. Whether it's showing videos, statistics or the NCAA tournament banners hanging on the wall of the practice gym, he said he'll do what it takes to right the wrongs he's seen to begin the season.

'We need to get that figured out quickly and if we do, I think you could see some really good things out of this team,” Fennelly said. 'If we don't, we're going to struggle mightily against teams that are bigger, better and stronger than Drake.”