During the past few weeks, one thing has become clear about the ISU women’s basketball team: The defense is good.

In the opening two games of the Big 12 season, the Cyclones (12–3, 0–2) have held two of the conference’s top three offenses under their season scoring averages by a substantial margin.

But unfortunately for the Cyclones, there has recently been another brutally obvious perception of the team: The offense needs help.

While the team leads the conference by giving up just 52.2 points per game, Iowa State has slid into a funk offensively, managing to score just 44 and 47 points in its previous two games against Nebraska and Texas A&M.

“Confidence is a big part of it,” said senior Alison Lacey. “I went through a slump last year, and it’s just something you have to shake yourself out of. Once that first shot goes down, it’s a lot easier to get back.”

Just as it’s been all year, Lacey is the surefire star of the team. She sits in the top 15 of four major Big 12 statistical categories and has scored double figures in all but one of the team’s 15 games this season.

But that’s where the impressive offensive statistics end for the Cyclones, as inconsistency has plagued the rest of the team and catalyzed its struggles on offense.

At one point this season, guards Kelsey Bolte and Whitney Williams had two of the six highest 3-point percentages in Division I, but have gone 1–22 from behind the arc since then.

And nobody else has stepped up to fill the void.

“Alison Lacey is really good, but you can’t win in this league by yourself,” coach Bill Fennelly said. “We’re defending decent enough to stay in games, but we’re really having trouble scoring, and we have to keep searching for more ways to do that.”

Iowa State will attempt to jolt its offense on the road Saturday at Colorado, where freshman center Anna Prins will get a chance to play back in her home state for the first time.

And it’s safe to say that Prins will likely feel extremely comfortable playing at the Coors Events Center in Boulder once again.

Just 10 – 15 minutes from her house in Broomfield, Colo., Prins will revisit the arena in which she cut down the nets in three consecutive seasons as the Class 4A Colorado state champion.

“I’ve been looking forward to this all year,” Prins said. “Obviously, I’m excited to see my family and I’ve played in that gym before, but it’s going to be a whole new experience playing a college game on that court.

Colorado will counter the continually hot Lacey and Colorado native Prins with its own star in Brittany Spears, who ranks fifth in the Big 12 in scoring (18.4 per game) and rebounds (8.6 per game).

Tipoff in Boulder is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. CT on Saturday.