Top seeds in the Big 12 Tournament on the line against Oklahoma State

With two games remaining before the Big 12 Conference Tournament, the ISU women’s basketball team is all but assured a top-four seed and a first-round bye.

Yet there is still one final road game on this year’s conference schedule, and it’s a big one.

The Cyclones (22-5, 10-4 Big 12) got some help from No. 3 Nebraska last Wednesday, as it beat No. 10 Oklahoma to drop the Sooners into tie with the Cyclones for second place in the Big 12.

The possession arrow favors No. 13 Iowa State in the event of a tiebreaker, thanks to its 63-56 win over Oklahoma at Hilton Coliseum earlier this season.

But there’s still plenty of work to do. Iowa State needs to take care of a tough away game against No. 20 Oklahoma State (20-8, 8-6) in Stillwater on Wednesday night to keep the status quo with the Sooners.

This young Cyclone team has several key players experiencing this pressure for the first time, and whether it’s through the team, media or public, they all know very well what’s at stake.

However, the coaching staff is sure to keep them levelheaded and focused going into the final week of the regular season.

“I’m a firm believer that they should know exactly where they are and the situation that they’re in,” coach Bill Fennelly said. “They’re pretty good about understanding the big picture. It’s not a bad thing to discuss it, but in the end we’ve always told our team to keep their focus on what they can control.”

In addition to having the potential tournament seeds up for grabs, Wednesday night’s game against Oklahoma State will bring a unique element to the forefront.

It is also senior night in Stillwater, and one of the greatest scorers in college basketball will be playing her final home game in orange and black.

Andrea Riley, who has led the Big 12 in scoring in each of the past three seasons, is on the brink of becoming the leading scorer in conference history, needing just 96 points to surpass Courtney Paris’ current mark of 2,729.

“Obviously, you have to game plan for her,” Fennelly said. “She has the ball too much. You can’t get it out of her hands and there aren’t a lot of things you can do to prevent it. She’s going to take 26 or 27 shots in a game, and you just have to be happy if you hold her to 20 or 22 points.”

Despite her small stature — she stands just 5-feet-6-inches — Riley manages to have an effect in every aspect of the game. In each of her four seasons, she has finished in the top 10 in the conference in points, assists and steals, leading those categories on five different occasions.

In the past three seasons she has averaged 23.7 points, 5.5 assists and 2.3 steals per game.

And returning players can testify to just how dynamic Riley can be, especially after her 32-point performance at Hilton Coliseum last season.

“She’s in a world of her own,” senior Alison Lacey said. “She’s just really quick. She can shoot the ball deep and is very talented overall. It’s going to be hard to guard her, but we’ve got the right defense to do it.”

Despite Riley’s abilities, the Cyclones have gotten the best of their upcoming mid-week foes in their past two meetings. They took down No. 21 Oklahoma State 63-55 last season at home, and pulled off a 62-57 upset against the No. 15 Cowgirls on the road two years ago.

Iowa State, a winner in six of its last seven, is playing to keep the flame of its current hot streak from going out before Big 12 Tournament play. Iowa State’s only loss in the month of February came on the road at the hands of the 26-0 Cornhuskers.

Tip-off at Gallagher-Iba Arena in Stillwater is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Wednesday.