IRVING, Texas – Iowa State redshirt sophomore Ella Zimmerman has been named the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week for her performance against UNI, the conference announced Wednesday.

Zimmerman, a Vanderbilt transfer, was only able to compete in one match this week, as an injury kept her out of the Drake contest. She made her impact felt, though, in Sunday’s matchup with UNI, as the Cumming, Ga., product recorded three points.

Ella played 70 minutes of action on Sunday, spearheading the Cyclone backline. Going into Sunday, Zimmerman didn’t have a single stat in her 29 previous games. She made sure to change that, stuffing the box score.

Against the Panthers, Zimmerman picked up her first career point in the 48th minute of action, feeding a ball from midfield to Hannah Shaw at the box, who then crossed a Panther defender and netted the Cyclones’ fourth goal of the contest.

She wasn’t done there, however, as she would later go on to score her first career goal. After a first-half shot on goal, Zimmerman got another crack in the 68th minute. She was playing up for a corner and was fed the ball out of the set but missed high off the crossbar. The ball serendipitously bounced back to her, and she buried the team’s sixth and final score.

She is the first Cyclone to win Big 12 Defensive Player of the Week honors since Lindsey Hendon did so on Sept. 6, 2016. Zimmerman is the sixth Cyclone to ever earn the award, joining the likes of Beth Chapman, Joanna Haig, Ann Gleason, Maddie Jobe and Hendon.

ISU will be back in action on Sunday, Sept. 1, when it heads to Memphis to face off with a top-ten Memphis Tiger program in its second road contest of the season. The Tigers will be the first ranked opponent for the Cyclones this year. Kickoff is scheduled for 8 p.m. and will be livestreamed on ESPN+.

Big 12 Weekly Award Winners
Offensive Player of the Week: Callie Conrad (BU)
Defensive Player of the Week: Ella Zimmerman
Goalkeeper of the Week: Azul Alvarez (BU), Jordan Nytes (CU)
Freshman of the Week: Bella Pierotti (OSU)

AMES, Iowa – Iowa State freshman linebacker Cael Brezina has been named to the Shaun Alexander Freshman of the Year Award preseason watch list. The list includes 37 freshmen nationally and Brezina is one of three linebackers on the initial list.

A Downers Grove, Illinois, native, Brezina joined the Cyclones in the spring after a stellar high school career.

Brezina was a consensus three-star linebacker recruit and the No. 15 recruit in the state of Illinois according to ESPN.

Iowa State safety Beau Freyler says the Cyclones are anxious for a game. ISU opens Saturday at home against North Dakota.

Freyler says fall camp was productive.

After being named second team All Big-12 last year Freyler has been working on ways to improve his game even more.

Freyler on the challenge provided by the North Dakota offense.

Iowa’s offense hopes to show progress in Saturday’s season opener against Illinois State. Cade McNamara gets the start at quarterback. He suffered a season ending ACL injury midway through the 2023 season.

McNamara says it has been a long wait for a game.

McNamara says Kamari Moulton has shined in practice. The redshirt freshman will get the start at running back.

Senior tight end Luke Lachey likes the way the run game is performing under new offensive coordinator Tim Lester.

Lachey says Illinois State’s defense will be aggressive.

Illinois State coach Brock Spack says Saturday’s game at Iowa will prepare them for Missouri Valley action. The Redbirds are ranked 20th in the FCS coaches poll and coming off a 6-5 season in 2023.

Spack says the players enjoy the challenge of playing Big Ten teams.

Spack says Iowa’s success on defense begins with consistency.

Spack says while Iowa has made changes on offense the Hawkeyes primary goal will still be to run the ball.