After the Big 12 laid out this year’s conference schedule, their outcome offered little opportunity for the ISU women’s basketball team to adjust to the competitiveness of Big 12 play.

A brutal six-game opening stretch had the Cyclones (15-3, 3-2 Big 12) facing five of the top six teams in the Big 12 preseason poll, four of which are currently ranked in the AP top 25.

But this tough slew of games will finally come to a close on Wednesday night when No. 22 Iowa State plays host to No. 11 Oklahoma (14-4, 4-1).

The Cyclones will see an Oklahoma team that is drastically different from years past, as the Sooners are now lacking All-Americans Courtney and Ashley Paris.

This will be the first time any Cyclone player has faced the Sooners without the towering post presence of the sisters on the court.

“Oklahoma is still really good, but I can’t say I’m disappointed they’re not there anymore,” said coach Bill Fennelly. “We’ve lost six games in a row to Oklahoma and the Paris twins were certainly a big part of that. They’ve still got a lot of other great players, but maybe we’ll have a little bit better luck now.”

While the Cyclones have had recent struggles on offense, they are coming off their biggest win of the season with a 73-71 comeback win in overtime at No. 19 Texas on Saturday.

Iowa State used two clutch three-pointers—one in the closing seconds of regulation and one in the final minute of overtime—to erase a 14 point second half deficit against the Longhorns.

It marked the team’s first 70-point performance since scoring 76 against UNI on Dec 20.

A big part of their improved offense came via the emergence of Amanda Zimmerman, who is finally hitting stride after missing the majority of the nonconference schedule with an ankle injury.

The freshman stepped up with a season-high 14 points in 27 minutes against the Longhorns, and was named the Big 12 Freshman of the Week for her performances in the past two games.

“I had no idea it was coming,” Zimmerman said. “I feel like I’ve been practicing better but there are still a ton of things I need to work on. But coming out with a win in overtime on the road was a great experience.”

Zimmerman provided something that the Cyclones desperately desired in the past several weeks by becoming a solid third scoring option behind Alison Lacey and Kelsey Bolte.

It’s been inconsistency in the post and the inability to find more scorers that has hampered the offense so much during Big 12 play.

“She had by far the best game she’s had in her short career,” Fennelly said. “We’ve been talking all along about how we need to find someone game-to-game that can give us something inside. And she did a lot of really good things in a tough situation against Texas.”

Iowa State narrowly missed upsetting Oklahoma the last time it paid a visit to Ames, as the No. 6 Sooners escaped the 2008 Big 12 opener with a 67-64 victory.

The Cyclones’ attempt to break their six-game skid against Oklahoma will commence with a 7 p.m. tip at Hilton Coliseum on Wednesday night.