What to watch when Iowa State women's basketball plays Grambling State

Iowa State women’s basketball coach Bill Fennelly and his staff spent the offseason tracking the shooting numbers of all their players in practice. Over the course of the workouts, a newcomer on Iowa State’s roster emerged as one of the top 3-point shooters.Mya Babbitt was among the top Cyclones from long range in practice, and she'll show what she can do in games when the Cyclones open the regular season on Nov. 2 against Grambling State at Hilton Coliseum in Ames. Tipoff is set for 6:30 p.m.“Her numbers are really good,” Fennelly said.Babbitt, a 5-foot-8 guard, came to Iowa State after spending three seasons at Kent State. As a sophomore, she set the single-season program record with 83 made 3-pointers. The following season, Babbitt connected on 62. Babbitt then transferred to Iowa State, a team hoping to utilize her shooting.“It’s something that I take great pride in,” Babbitt said.Iowa State desperately needs that skillset after the team’s top three scorers from a season ago transferred out of the program. Arianna Jackson, who ranked in the top 10 nationally for 3-point percentage, is back. But she'll need some help. So the Cyclones will be leaning on Babbitt.“We don’t have seven or eight kids that are going to go out there and make a lot of 3s, so the ones that can impact the game in that way, we need them to do that,” Fennelly said.Babbitt is one of those players. Fennelly has urged her to shoot whenever she gets the chance.“That’s her No. 1 skillset,” Fennelly said. “It’s what she’s done for her whole life. We have a lot of confidence she’ll do it here.”Can the shooting get better?Fennelly said Iowa State has struggled to shoot it during practice, and it was an issue in the team’s lone exhibition game. During a dominating win against Upper Iowa, the Cyclones were able to overpower their D2 foe despite shooting just 22.2% (4-of-18) from 3-point range. That won't cut it in the Big 12 Conference."I think just getting in rhythm shots will be beneficial the next few games," Babbitt said. Could we see tighter rotations?With the easy win over Upper Iowa, Iowa State was able to roll out everyone on its roster. The Cyclones used all 13 players with everyone logging at least 10 minutes. As the season goes on and perhaps even against Grambling State, playing time will start to diminish for some. As Fennelly tinkers with lineups and matchups, there could be a better understanding of who he plans to lean on after the Grambling State game."We're still working everyone in at practice, but the game will dictate how we go and how deep we go," Fennelly said.Emilija Dakic makes a case for more playing timeThe Florida transfer was impressive in Iowa State’s exhibition game, scoring 11 points, grabbing six rebounds and tallying five steals in just over 14 minutes. Fennelly said she improved her stock with the strong showing and could get more playing time against Grambling State.“I think (Dakic) was probably the kid that people got pretty excited about,” Fennelly said.Tommy Birch, the Register's sports enterprise and features reporter, has been working at the newspaper since 2008. He's the 2018, 2020, 2023 and 2025 Iowa Sportswriter of the Year. Reach him at tbirch@dmreg.com or 515-284-8468.This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: What to watch when Iowa State women's basketball plays Grambling State