Morgan Kane is shining in her latest role with Iowa State women’s basketball

AMES — Morgan Kane’s been asked to play many roles in her Iowa State career.

The 6-3 senior from Utah has been a sparingly-used bench player. A key starter during last season’s Sweet 16 run. And a backup center turned starter once again this season.

“She’s a kid that’s really done everything we’ve asked of her,” said Cyclones head coach Bill Fennelly, whose 20th-ranked team (17-8, 9-6) faces TCU (7-19, 1-14) at 5 p.m. Saturday at Hilton Coliseum. “Her roles here have changed kind of like the weather.”

Kane’s early-season status as supporting post player ended when standout 6-6 graduate transfer Stephanie Soares suffered a season-ending ACL injury on Jan. 9 in an 82-79 loss at Big 12 co-leader Oklahoma. Suddenly, Kane strode back into the spotlight and is coming off a season-high 16 point-performance in the Cyclones’ 73-68 loss Wednesday at Oklahoma State.

Kane scored those points on just seven field goal attempts and drained all four of her free throw tries.

“I’m just grateful for the opportunity,” Kane said. “Trying to embrace every moment to be on the court with my girls. Just enjoy the last couple of games.”

Or maybe several. The Cyclones have lost four of their last six games but all but one of those setbacks have come by five points or fewer. Kane’s presence in the post has also helped take pressure off of ISU’s “Big Three” guards Emily Ryan, Lexi Donarski and Ashley Joens. The Cyclones are shooting 40.2 percent from 3-point range in the past three games after enduring an extended struggle to hit shots from beyond the arc.

“I think we’re taking the shots we want to take,” said Fennelly, whose team ranks second in the Big 12 in 3-pointers made per game (8.7). “We’ve got to continue to make them, but overall I think we’re in a pretty good spot.”

Kane’s ability to post up and finish plays inside must become a consistent feature of the offense if ISU’s to retain any hopes of hosting first- and second-round NCAA Tournament games. The Cyclones sit alone in fourth in the conference standings and could climb as high as third to enhance their postseason seeding.

“That’s the nature of this time of year,” Fennelly said. “The message I told our kids (after the Oklahoma State loss) was, ‘Hey, I was proud of your effort. At some point the season’s gonna end and you don’t want it to end on, gosh, we missed too many layups, or we forgot a scouting report defensive assignment, or whatever. Let’s just play as hard as we (can).’”

That’s why Fennelly took mostly positive lessons from the setback in Stillwater and it’s also why he remains bullish on what his team can accomplish down the stretch this season. Kane, he said, is coming off of one of her best games as a Cyclone — and she’s eager to do more on both ends of the floor to extend her curtain-call season as far as possible.

“I’m going to go in with the same enthusiasm and excitement,” Kane said. “Give everything I have, whether that’s 10 minutes, or 20 minutes. Anything my team needs.”

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