Iowa State will switch up game plan for meeting with Kansas State

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Sophomore guard Brynn Williamson goes up for the shot against Texas on Jan. 2 at Hilton Coliseum.  Williamson led the team in rebounds with nine in the 73-65 overtime win.

Dylan Montz

Iowa State’s game plan from its win at Texas on Feb. 6 may not be much use for its upcoming game against Kansas State.

The No. 25 Cyclones (16-5, 7-4 Big 12) will host the Wildcats (12-10, 3-7) on Feb. 9 at Hilton Coliseum with tip-off scheduled for 1 p.m. Night in and night out, the ISU game plans always seem to be changing.

“One game you might want to shoot a lot … next game you might pound it inside,” said ISU guard Brynn Williamson. “We had tremendous shot-blockers from Texas coming at us [Feb. 6] to a team that’s really [thin at] the post [with Kansas State].”

What the Wildcats lack on the block, however, they make up for in their outside shooting. Kansas State has attempted 616 total 3-point field goals this season and has made 29.4 percent of them.

Kansas State is led by guard Brittany Chambers, who is a do-it-all player on the perimeter. The senior averages 18.7 points per game and 7.5 rebounds per game.

“Whenever we’ve played Kansas State, Brittany’s always been the person that you focus on because she has the ball so much,” said ISU coach Bill Fennelly. “She’ll dribble the ball all over the place until something happens, and she shoots it. Literally, her range is deep as any player we’ve ever faced.”

Williamson will have the task of guarding Chambers on Feb. 9. In Kansas State’s loss to Oklahoma on Feb. 6, Chambers earned a double-double with 14 points and led the Wildcats in rebounds with 11.

“She’s a good shooter, and she kind of has the green light everywhere,” Williamson said of Chambers. “If she’s open, she’s going to shoot it, and she’s a player on their team that they look to in situations, and you can’t relax for a second.”

Fennelly also mentioned how different the matchup with Kansas State will be for Iowa State to defend because of all the shooters for the Wildcats. In each of Iowa State’s last three games against Texas Tech, Texas and Kansas State, each one is different.

“We go from a team that had one great perimeter shooter and two big [players] inside [at Texas] to five people out there [on the perimeter],” Fennelly said. “The key to K-State for us is can we guard them, or are we going to chase them?”

Iowa State will have a significant size advantage against Kansas State and will attempt to exploit that with forward Chelsea Poppens, forward Hallie Christofferson and center Anna Prins.

Prins may have to help guard the perimeter against Kansas State, a situation she has only been in a few times before.

“It’s not my favorite, but if it’s what I have to do for the game, it’s what I’ve got to do,” Prins said. “[I am always] just trusting that the coaches will put me and the other post players in positions that we’ll be fine in.”

Tip-off will be 1 p.m. on Feb. 9 at Hilton Coliseum.