Iowa State women's basketball team picks up Truman State transfer Hannah Belanger

The Iowa State women’s basketball team needed another guard, needed some more experience and needed another strong shooter. The Cyclones are getting all of that in their newest addition.

Truman State guard Hannah Belanger announced Friday that she’s transferring to Iowa State to finish out her college career. The 5-foot-8 Wisconsin native has one season of eligibility remaining.

“They tell me I have an amazing opportunity ahead of me,” Belanger said.

Belanger certainly does with Iowa State in need of filling some gaps in its roster with guards Maggie Espenmiller-McGraw, Denae Fritz and Lexi Donarski among five Cyclones who entered the transfer portal after the season ended.

Iowa State’s newcomer brings a wealth of experience and a strong track record of scoring and shooting during her four seasons with the Bulldogs, a Division II program. Belanger started all 108 games she played in over the last four seasons and averaged 17.4 points, 3.9 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game.

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She’s coming off her best season yet, averaging a team-high 21.3 points per game while shooting 47% from 3-point range. She’s a career 40% shooter from beyond the arc and gives Iowa State some instant offense heading into next season, with leading scorer Ashley Joens headed to the WNBA.

“I know they lost a lot of big players for them and obviously I can’t step in and do exactly what they do but looking at the statistics, I feel like I’m a pretty consistent scorer and shooter,” Belanger said. “I know it’s coming up a level and I know that no matter what I have to do, I have to work really, really hard to earn everything but I also feel like I have the ability to knock down some shots and I hope that translates to the next level.”

She said she has aspirations of playing overseas when she’s done in college and hopes coming to Iowa State can put her in a better position for that.

It’s a route that worked for Stephanie Soares, who was an NAIA star at The Master’s (CA) before coming to Iowa State. Soares, who appeared in just 13 games with Iowa State before going down with a season-ending torn ACL, managed to elevate her stock and turn into a first-round pick in this week’s WNBA draft.

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“I think they’re an amazing program at a very high level and for me, I definitely have aspirations to play overseas one day and I feel like coach (Bill) Fennelly and his staff and just like the past experiences of players that he’s had, it’s definitely possible,” Belanger said.

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

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Truman State guard Hannah Belanger to transfer to Iowa State women's basketball