This season, ISU assistant coach Bill Fennelly has preached the mantra of “the next 40 minutes,” focusing on the task at hand in each game.

On Monday, March 4, three seniors will play their final 40 minutes under the lights at Hilton Coliseum.

“For [the coaching staff], it’s just the next 40 minutes, the next 40 minutes, the next 40 minutes,” Fennelly said. “It just comes up now that the next 40 minutes happens to be senior night, with a lot to play for.”

Seniors Chelsea Poppens, Anna Prins and Amanda Zimmerman, along with the rest of the Cyclones (20-7, 11-6 Big 12), will play Oklahoma State on Monday night, March 4. Poppens said she still remembers the first time she put on the cardinal and gold jersey. 

“It was nerve-racking, just to say that I was going to be able to play in front of 10,000 people,” Poppens said. “It was crazy, but now I’m used to it, not as nervous.”

Poppens has had a special senior season, becoming the 23rd player in school history to score 1,000 career points and becoming the 14th player in Big 12 history to record 1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds in a career. 

While the milestones look impressive on paper, Poppens said she will be leaving a different legacy behind at Iowa State.

“For the type of person I am, or the type of teammate,” Poppens said. “Each one of us leaves a mark behind and why so many people see Iowa State as a place of people who have great character.”

Prins also joined Poppens at a milestone, becoming the 24th Cyclone to reach 1,000 career points. Prins said she hasn’t thought much of her final 40 minutes under the lights at Hilton.

“I’m trying not to think about it too much, I haven’t started my [senior] speech yet,” Prins said. “It’s a weird feeling.”

Hindered by injuries her junior season, Prins said being able to play a full and complete season her senior year has been special to her.

“It’s one of the biggest things I’m thankful for this year, as [well] just being a senior and being able to play the entire the year,” Prins said. “Besides the little aches and pains, my knee has been feeling really good.”

Zimmerman, the third senior, didn’t see as much playing time throughout her career at Iowa State as Poppens and Prins did. But Zimmerman said it’s still a tough pill to swallow.

“This will be the last time going out into Hilton, out in front of Hilton Magic,” Zimmerman said. “There’s no other place like it. That emotional part and trying to come back and bounce back from the last game at TCU.”

The Cyclones tip off against the Cowgirls at 7 p.m. Monday, March 4, at Hilton Coliseum for senior night.