ISU Exhibitions: Ejim on healing, women roll (Video)

  By Rob Gray

 Correspondent

 AMES - At first, Melvin Ejim wasn't overly concerned.

Sure, his left knee hurt after getting tangled up going for an offensive rebound Wednesday in practice.

But being out four to six weeks with a hyperextension and bone bruise?

Didn't see that coming.

“When I got back up and started moving up a little bit, I was like, ‘Oh, well, it's not that bad - maybe it was just a scare,'” said Ejim, who led the Big 12 in rebounding last season with 9.3 per game. “It just blew up on me. When they saw that, they started thinking it was something worse.”

Ejim, a senior and preseason all-conference pick, said he expects to hit the low end of the healing window.

“The sooner the better,” Ejim said.

Until then, the 6-6 forward's diligently following doctor's orders.

The swelling's greatly decreased and pool-based restrengthening workouts are underway.

He'll exercise his lungs, too - as the Cyclones play No. 7 Michigan (Nov. 17), among other teams, while he's out.

“I'll still be on the bench yelling,” Ejim said. “It's going to be important for me to help these guys out because of the timing of all of this.”

 ISU WOMEN CRUISE: Seven turnovers.

That's the stat that stood out for Iowa State women's basketball coach Bill Fennelly and his players after a 76-52 exhibition triumph Sunday over Wayne State at Hilton Coliseum.

“That number, for us, is really low,” said Cyclone guard/forward Brynn Williamson, who drained three 3-pointers and scored 12 points. “Last year, that would have been the first half.”

The Division II Wildcats relied on a zone defense, which generally pushes the turnover number down.

“Still, we've had practices where we're running plays 5-on-0 and we have seven turnovers,” said Fennelly, whose team averaged 17.2 turnovers last season. “So that's good.”

Hallie Christofferson led ISU with 24 points and 10 rebounds.

Freshman Seanna Johnson added 15 points and a team-best three offensive rebounds.