When Iowa State last made the trip to Oklahoma City for the 2007 Big 12 tournament, the fifth seeded Cyclones mounted an improbable run to the championship. The Cyclones rattled off three consecutive victories before eventually being stopped in the finals by 11th-ranked Oklahoma.

“We had a hell of a time that last time we were there,” coach Bill Fennelly said. “We stayed the whole week. The weather was great. I was on the bus twice — coming from the airport and going back to the airport.”

Iowa State makes its return to the Sooner state capital on Wednesday for another shot at the Big 12 title. Unlike in past years, Iowa State’s road to the finals is a slightly less grueling. As the third-seed in the tournament, the Cyclones earned a bye in the first round for the first time since 2001. The Cyclone have to wait to play until Friday, when they will meet either Texas or Missouri. With their opponent still undecided, Fennelly said at his Monday press conference that the team would use the days leading up to Friday as a way to catch up on practice.

“Basically the next three days in practice will be kinda like going back to the beginning for us,” Fennelly said. “We’ll review some things. Work a lot on special situations. Try to clean up some things maybe we didn’t do as well.”

Regardless of opponent, Iowa State can be comforted by its past success in the Big 12 tournament. In the last two years, the Cyclones have recorded a combined 5-2 record at the yearly tourney, including a thrilling overtime victory against No. 15 Kansas State in 2008.

We’ve always seemed to do well at the Big 12 tournament,” said senior Heather Ezell. “I think our record definitely talks for itself, but you never know what can happen at Big 12s. You have to be ready to go. You can’t just think we’ll be playing well. We need to be ready to go.”

Solid play from the post  —

For a good part of the early stages of the conference season, Iowa State’s inside game was a major area of concern. The Cyclones struggled to produce points near the basket, forcing them to take shots from the outside.

But thanks in large part to breakout performances by Nicky Wieben and Amanda Nisleit in the past few weeks, Iowa State’s post play has become an area of strength for the Cyclones.

“I think our post game went from — let’s be honest— a liability, to something that’s a real force for us,” Fennelly said. “We don’t have Courtney Paris but we have a lot of players looking to score.”

In Iowa State’s last four games, the team’s five main post players (Wieben, Nisleit, Jocelyn Anderson, Toccara Ross and Ashley Arlen) have contributed for 118 points.

Wieben and Nisleit are a large reason for the offensive output.

Wieben is averaging 14.3 points in her last six games, while Nisleit is averaging 10.5 ppg in the same time span.

“Everybody in the post has played really well, especially Nicky and Nis,” Lacey said. “Nicky has made some good post moves. Nis is hitting inside and outside. And that opens the shots for us on the outside.”