ISU’s Denae Fritz finding a role on basketball court

AMES — Iowa State’s Denae Fritz put together a breakout game.

Fellow Cyclone Emily Ryan narrowly missed achieving a triple-double and five ISU players scored in double figures in a 74-62 win Sunday over then-No. 25 Villanova in the Invesco QQQ Basketball Hall of Fame Women’s Showcase.

So Cyclone head coach Bill Fennelly was feeling pretty good — until he settled in behind his steering wheel to take 8-year-old grandson, Will, to school Monday morning.

“‘Grandpa, we didn’t score for six minutes and 24 seconds,’” Fennelly quoted his grandson as saying. “That’s the first thing that he told me, so except for that, I thought our effort was great.”

Absent the third quarter scoring drought Will Fennelly referenced to his grandpa, the 14th-ranked Cyclones (8-2) did just about everything right against a talented Wildcats team (9-3) in what proved to be the non-conference finale.

ISU was schedule to host Drake Thursday at 5 p.m., but forecasted blizzard conditions caused that in-state rivalry game to be canceled.

“It’s disappointing,” Fennelly said. “In-state game. Really good Drake team, but I met with (Cyclone Director of Athletics) Jamie Pollard and we were talking a lot about it (Monday) and early (Tuesday). It was absolutely the right decision for every level and that’s why he’s the leader he is. He has to make those hard calls and I was 100 percent in favor of it.”

So ISU is off for 10 days until the Big 12 season opener Dec. 31 at 2 p.m. at Texas Tech, but as Fennelly noted, there’s plenty to build from in Sunday’s crisp performance, including Fritz’s emergence.

The talented 5-foot-11 freshman guard missed almost all of last season with a foot injury and had struggled shooting the basketball early before shining against Villanova. Fritz went 3-for-3 from 3-point range and 5-for-6 overall while scoring a career-high 13 points in 31 minutes.

“She is ultracompetitive,” Fennelly said. “She gets ticked off when she doesn’t do the right thing. She wants to do well. She knows she’s on a good team and we all talk about what (graduate transfer forward Stephanie Soares) is going through, but Denae sat out a year. And she’s working her way back into it — and the one thing I try to tell her is, ‘You’re not the fifth option. You’re one of five.’

“ … She guards hard, she plays hard, so I think it was a relief for her in a lot of ways to see the ball go in.”

Expect to see more of that as Fritz continues to gain confidence while settling into a full season of playing at the Division I level. She’s a former Tennessee Class AAA Miss Basketball and brings an edge on both ends of the floor that fits Fennelly’s experienced and highly-regarded team perfectly.

“I think we have a great group with (all-time leading scorer) Ashley (Joens) coming back and Stephanie helping us out in the post,” Fritz said on media day. “I think (Soares is) a great addition to our team.”

So is the fully-healed Fritz, who ended that aforementioned scoring drought on Sunday with a 3-pointer.

“Hopefully that’s what she’ll take into the holidays and bring that back, because she’s a big piece of what we can be and what we want to become,” Fennelly said.

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