Cyclones disappointed with lack of assertiveness, still have enough to beat Kansas

AMES - There were two things Iowa State coach Bill Fennelly was happy about when he walked off the court. The crowd of 7,471 caught his eye and certainly getting a conference win was just as nice of a feeling.

Other than that, the Cyclones performance left Fennelly wanting more from his group.

'We've got to be more engaged from start to finish. That's the kind of team we need to be,” Fennelly said. 'We were trying everything we could to get that out of them, but it just wasn't going to happen. Fortunately we got through it so sometimes the best way to teach is after a win and not after a loss.”

Iowa State pulled away from Kansas 65-49, but a sluggish start coming off a wide-margin loss at Texas just three days ago wasn't what Fennelly wanted to see.

The Cyclones (11-4, 3-1) started 3-for-11 from the field and led 8-7 mid way through the first quarter. After the Jayhawks (5-10, 0-4) grabbed an 11-8 advantage, Iowa State used an 11-0 run to grab a 19-11 lead while holding Kansas scoreless for 5:33, which carried over into the second quarter.

Point guard Jadda Buckley and forward Bry Fernstrom each led Iowa State with 12 points while Nicole 'Kidd” Blaskowsky and Bridget Carleton added 11 points apiece. Seanna Johnson finished with a double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds, but players shared Fennelly's sentiments on needing to assert an offensive scheme earlier.

'We should have come out with a lot more effort and excitement, especially with all these fans,” Fernstrom said. 'We only get so many home games a year and our fans deserve us playing a lot harder than that because I think we should have beat them by a lot more.”

'We can't play down to any team or let the other team take advantage of our game,” Blaskowsky. 'When you do that, that's when you start struggling. This team has a lot of potential. I think we can do some serious damage in the Big 12. We've got to stick to what we know, what we do and how we do it and not play down to what somebody's record is or what a player is.”

Iowa State took a 28-25 lead into halftime and struggled to begin the second half, starting just 3-for-6 while Kansas was 2-for-8 out of the break. The Cyclones were up 37-32 more than midway through the third quarter and used a 6-0 run in just more than a minute to take their first double-digit lead at 43-32 while holding the Jayhawks to 28 percent shooting in the second half.

'I think just finding the open person,” Blaskowsky said of the third-quarter stretch. 'Not passing up a good shot for a great shot and taking advantage of the open lanes and definitely around the basket and getting jumpers.”

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