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Iowa State women’s basketball team excited for daunting non-conference schedule

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Iowa State women’s basketball team excited for daunting non-conference schedule

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Iowa State women’s basketball coach Bill Fennelly gathered his team during its annual preseason meeting and had some big news about the upcoming season’s schedule.

“He was just like, ‘We’re going to be playing South Carolina and UConn, so, we better get ready,’” said Iowa State guard Arianna Jackson during a We Will Collective event at Principal Park Saturday.

Iowa State, which enters the 2024-25 season with giant expectations, will quickly find out how good it really is. The team faces a daunting non-conference schedule that includes three of last season’s Final Four teams.

“It’s going to be a challenge, especially because we have a lot of new pieces this year,” said Iowa State post player Audi Crooks. “But no good team goes untested.”

Iowa State will certainly be tested during what is expected to be a huge season. The Cyclones are already coming off a surprising season where they reached the Big 12 Tournament title game and earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Despite a roster full of freshmen, Iowa State still came one win away from the Sweet 16. With the bulk of the roster returning, including its top three scorers, Iowa State is expected to have an even bigger season in 2024-25. The non-conference portion of the schedule will be a good barometer for the team.

Iowa State will face reigning national champions South Carolina on Nov. 28 as part of the Elevance Health Women’s Fort Myers Tip-Off. The Cyclones will take on perennial powerhouse UConn in the Invesco QQQ Basketball Hall of Fame Women’s Showcase on Dec. 17.

While the complete non-conference schedule hasn’t been released, Iowa State is also expected to face in-state rival Iowa, which is coming off back-to-back trips to the national title game, again.

“We definitely had a feeling going into the season that we were going to be playing a little bit higher competition,” Jackson said. “So, we’re excited to be able to do that and have that opportunity.”

Crooks compared the non-conference schedule to Iowa State’s second-round matchup against Stanford in the NCAA Tournament. The Cyclones nearly knocked off the Cardinal before falling in overtime. Still, the matchup gave Iowa State a huge stage and a huge opportunity.

“It was kind of all eyes on us for a little bit because nobody anticipated that,” Crooks said.

Everyone is now expecting big things out of Iowa State, especially after the Cyclones addressed some of their biggest needs in the offseason. The program added some strength, some size and some shooting in the transfer portal and they have a solid incoming freshmen class as well.  

Those additions, combined with what Iowa State brings back this season, could make the Cyclones a very dangerous team.

“I think we’ve made a big jump,” said Iowa State guard Kelsey Joens.

“Just the growth that we’ve made over last year and so far in the offseason is huge. We’re looking forward to it.”

While expectations are big outside of the Iowa State lockerroom, Crooks said they have high hopes inside of it as well.

“We have a majority of our starters, the majority of our minutes coming back and then adding some experience with transfers and great shooters and great players overall, I think we have a really good chance of being a national contender,” Crooks said.

Tommy Birch, the Register’s sports enterprise and features reporter, has been working at the newspaper since 2008. He’s the 2018, 2020 and 2023 Iowa Sportswriter of the Year. Reach him at tbirch@dmreg.com or 515-284-8468.

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