After coming off a tough loss to No. 1 Baylor at home, the ISU women’s basketball team is looking forward to getting a chance to get a win against Kansas. 

Statistically, the Cyclones (9-4, 0-2 Big 12) were right there with the No. 1 team in the country. Even though the Lady Bears out-rebounded the Cyclones 39-27, they only made two more field goals total than Iowa State.

“I think defensively we had a good plan, I thought, against Baylor,” said ISU coach Bill Fennelly at his weekly news conference. “Our kids bought into it and did a good job of it.”

The difference in the game was made at the free-throw line. Baylor made 16-of-21 shots from the charity stripe compared to the Cyclones going 5-of-9. 

Eight of those free throws came from Brittney Griner. The All-American proved that she is one of the best players in the country with her performace against the Cyclones, scoring 26 points along with six boards, two assists and four blocks.

Griner ended up 9-for-20 from the field as the rest of the Lady Bears shot 10-of-30.

The Cyclones are heading to Allen Fieldhouse to face the Jayhawks (12-1, 1-1) to try and avoid the first 0-3 Big 12 start in school history. The Cyclones haven’t lost three straight Big 12 games since the 2007-08 season when they started 1-4.

After that start, the team rebounded to go 7-9 and advance to the second round of the NCAA tournament.

“[It’s] very important,” said junior Hallie Christofferson in regards to their 0-2 Big 12 start. “Knowing that where we sit right now is not where we want to be and that gives us a little bit more motivation to go out there and win on the road.”

Even though the Jayhawks have won four of the last five meetings, the Cyclones have won four of the last five in the historic Allen Fieldhouse. 

For freshman Brynn Williamson, the KU matchup holds some extra meaning as it’s close to home. The Kansas City, Mo., native is hoping to put on a show for her friends and family.

“KU is about 45 minutes from my house,” Williamson said. “A lot of my high school friends go to KU, so a lot of them will probably be there and a lot of my family will make it up, so it’s just really exciting because I haven’t seen a lot of those people in a while.”

Growing up, Williamson attended KU men’s basketball games as a fan with her family and also attended basketball camps as a player.

“For the men’s basketball games, we would go there and a couple camps I went to when I was younger,” Williamson said. “It’s always fun to go there and be a fan, but now I’m actually going to be playing there, so it’ll be exciting.”

The main concern for the team is Kansas’ first-team All-Big 12 forward Carolyn Davis. After facing Griner this past weekend, Davis marks the second straight All-Big 12 post the Cyclones will face.

So far this season, Davis is averaging 19.0 points per game along with 7.4 rebounds. She also leads her team blocks with 1.38 per game. 

“With Kansas, they’re [a] very experienced team,” Fennelly said. “Carolyn Davis is an All-Big 12 post player. It starts with [her] in the post.”

Tip off is set for 7 p.m. Wednesday at Allen Fieldhouse.