The No. 16 Cyclones will head to the Big 12 Championships on Saturday to compete against four ranked opponents — No. 2 Oklahoma, No. 12 Nebraska and No. 14 Missouri.

The team has gone 0–3 in Big 12 competition this season, but senior Ashley Kent said that doesn’t impact the team’s morale.

“We don’t really think about it all that much,” Kent said. “It just makes it obvious how strong the Big 12 is. We’re going to go in a shoot for a good score and another 24-for-24, and wherever we end up we’ll be happy as long as we went out and did our best.”

Having a consistent meet, which includes getting through all 24 routines the team has in its lineup without a fall, is key for the Cyclones being able to challenge for the title.

This season, the team has proven its resiliency by remaining consistent throughout several injuries. The team has not necessarily done this in the past several years.

“We’ve had a couple years where we were inconsistent throughout the year,” Kent said. “This year we’ve had a much more consistent full year, so we’re happy about that. We hope that shows in the Big 12 and hope we’ll have a consistent meet that will be building and building off of all our meets.”

Kent said any of the four teams in the Big 12 could take the championship, but the team is excited to put up a fight for it and go for first place, which hasn’t happened in recent history.

The last time the Cyclones won a Big 12 title was in 2006, when Kent was a freshman.

This is the last Big 12 Championship for the now veteran Kent, but for freshman Elizabeth Stranahan, it will be a first. Stranahan has been trying to keep a level head and not let the pressure of the larger competition affect her.

“I’m trying to think of it as the same as in the gym,” Stranahan said. “I don’t want to change my performance from practice to meets, whether it’s a small meet or a big meet. I’m trying to keep it the same and not get too worked up over the fact that it is a big competition.”

Stranahan performed an exhibition at the Cyclones’ first home meet in January but then sustained a back injury that kept her out for six weeks.

She returned to compete on floor exercise for the last four meets of the season, and her scores have risen from an 8.150 to a 9.800.

Her return has been especially important as top floor worker senior Melanie Tham sustained an Achilles’ injury March 5 that ended her season.

“We kind of try to stand by the mantra ‘nothing phases us,’ but [Tham] getting hurt, it definitely hurts,” Stranahan said. “We are hurting for her and she was a good contributor, but it doesn’t change our goals and it doesn’t change what we’re trying to do, so we’re just trying to do the best we can do to fill in that spot.”

Kent described Stranahan as a strong competitor, but Kent said it was unfortunate that she was out for weeks with the back injury when she couldn’t practice full routines.

Kent said the backup gymnasts on floor are ready to go for Saturday, even though it has been different without Tham.

“It’s different because [Stranahan] is a freshman and [Tham] is a senior,” Kent said. “But I think [Stranahan] has gone out the last couple of meets and proven herself, and we have full confidence in her. I think she has confidence in herself, too, so it’s what we practice for still, and having her back its just a huge benefit. If she was still out and [Tham] was out, then we would be struggling.”

The Cyclones will compete at 2 p.m. Saturday in Lincoln, Neb.