The Cyclones’ Big 12 tournament hopes are on the line for a second straight weekend as they go on the road to face Missouri tonight at 6:30 and Kansas on Sunday at 1:30.

To qualify for the Big 12 tournament, teams have to be in the top eight of the conference in terms of points. The Cyclones are currently in a three-way tie for ninth along with Kansas and Oklahoma. All three teams have six points and Oklahoma State is sitting in the eighth spot with nine points. Teams get three points for a win, one point for a draw, and zero for a loss. 

Iowa State needs to get at least one point out of its match against Big 12 leader Missouri and are viewing Kansas as a must-win game.

“We’re definitely going to have to beat Kansas if we want a shot at postseason play,” said coach Wendy Dillinger. “We need to win two of the next three games. If we can beat Missouri, then great, but we have to beat Kansas and we have to beat Nebraska.” Iowa State would be helped out on Friday night by a Nebraska win over Kansas, as well as an Oklahoma win over Oklahoma State. The Jayhawks and Cyclones share identicalidentical conference records at 2-5, while Kansas sits at 10-6-1 and Iowa State holds a 7-6-1 record overall.

The Cyclones have been a ‘take it one game at a time’ team all season, and that mentality is even more important heading into this weekend’s games.

“We only have three games left and we know if we don’t come out with wins in any of these three games then we’re definitely out,” said sophomore defender Amanda Mayberry.

The Tigers have played their way to a 5-0-2 conference record in part with their speed on the offensive side of the ball. The Tigers’ dynamic forward tandem of junior Alysha Bonnick, senior Kristin Andrighetto, and senior Michelle Collins leads the Tiger attack.

“They play really direct and don’t mess around at all,” Mayberry said. “They don’t combine or pass the ball very much. Their goal is to get it to the forwards and use their speed. They look to beat our defenders and go straight to goal.”

The Cyclones are going to make a slight change to their formation to counter Missouri’s dynamic offensive attack.

Iowa State put themselves in position to advance to San Antonio with a 1-0 win last weekend over Texas.

“I think that was something we needed, not only for certain individuals, but as a team as well,” said senior defender Elisa Berzins. “Being able to take a big win like Texas and moving on to teams that we know we can beat gives us that extra push.” The Cyclones know Missouri is at the top of the Big 12 and haven’t lost in conference play, but they admit they don’t pay much attention to the standings, as every Big 12 opponent provides a high level of competition.

In order to avenge a 3-0 loss to the Tigers last season, strong play on both sides of the ball will be required.

“We know its going to be a tough weekend,” Berzins said. “We have a lot of expectations as a team in what we need to get done this weekend. We know its going to be a battle. We’re really just going to focus on playing our game and doing what we need to do against the other teams and I think we’ll pull out two wins.”