Well-rested Iowa State women aim to extend four-game win streak at Utah

AMES — “Our team needs a break.”

Iowa State women’s basketball coach Bill Fennelly spoke these words after the Cyclones (18-5, 6-5 Big 12) beat UCF, 65-52, last Saturday to push their winning streak to four games.

And Fennelly fully stands by those words one week after first uttering them as ISU prepares for a two-game road swing through Utah that starts with Saturday’s 6 p.m. matchup with Utah (16-7, 7-4) in Salt Lake City.

“Yeah, you get a little bit of momentum, that’s good, and you keep rolling, but I think at this point of the year, and you start to look at all the things team go through, it’s kind of, like, ‘All right, you’ve got three weeks left,’” said Fennelly, whose team lost five games in a row before its recent four-game surge. “I think just to put that in perspective and get that in their minds is probably a lot better thing — and we did that.”

Fennelly said point guard Jada Williams may have benefited the most from the break, which featured two full days off and two more days of stretching and “maintenance stuff.” Williams has been spectacular lately, averaging 25.3 points during the Cyclones’ current win streak while playing 34.3 minutes per game.

“I think we’re just staying together, staying confident,” Williams said after the UCF win. “When teams through different stuff at us, we’re just making sure that we’re finding the open person, the open looks, and then hitting the shots when we need to.”

The Cyclones — who lead the Big 12 in 3-point shooting percentage — need to continue to do that against a talented Utah team that already owns a pair of top-20 wins over TCU and West Virginia this season. The Utes feature several playmakers led by guard Lani White (14.9 points per game) and forward Reese Ross (9.3 points and 8.4 rebounds per game).

“Very skilled,” Fennelly said. “Their offense is really hard to guard. They’re always moving and they can score it from a lot of different spots.”

ISU’s also been able to find an array of scorers and top performers during the four-game win streak. Williams and star center Audi Crooks — who was named a finalist for the Lisa Leslie Award for the second straight season — have been the most prolific scorers lately, but guard Arianna Jackson’s also provided a big boost since returning from injury, as well.

Sprinkle in occasional offensive outbursts from players such as Sydney Harris, Evangelia Paulk and Reese Beaty, and the Cyclones become a team that can attack opposing defenses in multiple ways and with several different options.

And that’s a strong position to be in as they seek to enhance their seeding for the conference tournament as well as the NCAA Tournament — as long as they avoid another skid of any sort.

“I keep going back to the same thing,” Fennelly said. “There’s only three weeks left (in the regular season), and the special people finish stuff. We’ve gotta be able to finish the right way, and hopefully that starts on Saturday.”

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