What's next for the Iowa State women's basketball team after losing Stephanie Soares?
AMES – When the 2022-23 Iowa State women’s basketball season began, coach Bill Fennelly compiled a game plan for his team unlike any he had in recent years.
With the addition of 6-foot-6 center/forward Stephanie Soares, the Cyclones (10-3, 2-1 Big 12) could attack the paint more with their size, take more chances on defense and not rely entirely on 3-point shooting to guide them to victories.
But 13 games into the season, that's no longer a viable plan. Fennelly has to find a new strategy after Soares suffered a torn ACL in her left knee that will sideline her for the remainder of the season. So, the 15th-ranked Cyclones have to adjust to life without her and form a new identity. That starts Wednesday night when they host Kansas State at 6:30 p.m., at Hilton Coliseum.
“We’re going to have to get creative in some things,” Fennelly said.
Soares, a graduate transfer from The Master’s University (CA), appeared in all 13 of Iowa State's games this season and had a dramatic impact, averaging 14.4 points, 9.9 rebounds and three blocks per game. She tallied eight double-doubles and shot 54.4% from the field. More importantly, Soares gave the Cyclones something they had been missing for a long time: Size and strength in the post.
More:Iowa State star Stephanie Soares to miss the remainder of the season with a torn ACL
Soares didn't just score and provide rim protection down low, but she could also shoot the 3. She quickly became an important part of what Iowa State was doing early in the season and gave the Cyclones a huge advantage in its approach when it came to dealing with the physical style of play they'll face in the Big 12 Conference.
“Unfortunately, that plan has kind of imploded,” Fennelly said.
It happened when Soares went down early in the first quarter of Sunday’s loss at Oklahoma. An MRI revelated a torn ACL in the knee she sustained the same injury in while at The Master's. The timing couldn’t have been worse for Soares or the Cyclones. Soares, who came to Iowa State to show pro teams that she could play at the next level was dominating. And Iowa State, which was picked to finish first in the Big 12 this season, had already won 10 games.
“It was probably the worst day of my professional life,” Fennelly said.
But the Cyclones still have high hopes for the season, even without Soares. There are plenty of reasons for optimism. Iowa State still has the bulk of its roster from last season. That team won a single-season school record 28 games and went to the Sweet 16. The Cyclones did it with Morgan Kane, who averaged 7.4 points and 4.9 rebounds per game, handling the post. With Soares now out, the spotlight will once again shift to Kane.
“The team knows what I can give and I was a starter last year, so I’m confident that I can fill that role and give the team good, quality minutes in the post,” Kane said.
Iowa State’s post play already took a hit earlier in the season when center Beatriz Jordao decided to retire due to sustained leg injuries. Fennelly said that’ll force the Cyclones to play smaller lineups than they want to. That means some of the responsibilities of filling the gap left over by Soares will be handled by Denae Fritz, Maggie Espenmiller-McGraw and Nyamer Diew. Izzi Zingaro could also get extended minutes. But truly replacing Soares will be impossible.
“Obviously there’s some limitations, especially in this league with the size, what we face,” Fennelly said.
Even though Soares’ season came to an abrupt end, there are still big expectations for her. Fennelly said they’ll file a waiver to try to secure a medical redshirt for her. While her time this season was short-lived, it was productive and Fennelly said she did more than enough to show WNBA teams that she could be a potential draft pick. He added that teams want him to keep them updated on her recovery and that a team could draft in her 2023, securing her rights for a year while she makes her way back from the injury.
More:Iowa State women's basketball senior Beatriz Jordao announces she's retiring due to medical reasons
"I told every single team that 'If you don't draft her, you're out of your mind' because if she doesn't come back here, she's proven," Fennelly said. "Unfortunately she only had 12 (full) games to prove it, but I think her stock, if you look at a stock market kind of thing, l people were buying that one a lot."
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: Iowa State women's basketball team looking for ways to replace Stephanie Soares
