For every Big 12 loss the ISU women’s basketball team has suffered, it has responded by rolling off a win of at least nine points.

The Cyclones (12-5, 3-3 Big 12) hope to continue that streak against Kansas State (14-4, 4-3) Sunday in Hilton Coliseum.

“This is a critical game for us,” said ISU coach Bill Fennelly.

“We lost two home games in the conference and really have to try and stop that.

“We’re playing a very good team.”

The Wildcats held off Kansas on Wednesday, winning 69-63 in a game that had three Kansas State players in double figures; Claire Coggins, Marlies Gipson and Shalee Lehning.

Kansas State hits almost 45 percent of its shots per game, while holding opponents to 37 percent. The Wildcats outrebound their opponents by almost three per game.

“They run a lot of good offense,” Fennelly said. “They have a lot of interchangeable parts. They run a 3/4 court trap which we haven’t seen much of this year.”

Iowa State, which lost 79-64 to Baylor on Wednesday, shot a dismal 32.3 percent from the field.

Fennelly said the team must find a way to regroup and convert on its chances, but it wasn’t the first time the Cyclones struggled on offense.

“You hope it was just one of those nights,” he said. “I’m a little worried because in the Colorado game we missed our fair share of what some people would call easy shots.

“It puts a lot of pressure on your defense when you’re not converting around the basket.”

Coggins has led the Wildcats in scoring in six games this season and is averaging 13 points per game. They have six players who average four or more rebounds per game. Four Wildcats average double figures in scoring.

The Cyclones have three players averaging 10 or more points per game, including Lyndsey Medders, Brittany Wilkins and Heather Ezell. Ezell and Wilkins shot a combined 7-of-26 from the field on Wednesday, including 3-of-10 from beyond the 3-point arc.

Iowa State does average more rebounds per game than Kansas State, pulling down 42.5 per game compared to the Wildcats’ 38.7. Still, Iowa State has only outrebounded one conference opponent all season – Colorado.

“I have no illusions that we’re going to be this dominating rebounding team,” Fennelly said. “The thing that our players have to understand is we’re not going to get bigger, stronger or faster. Rebounding is the mentality that you want to go get the ball.”

Sitting in eighth place in the Big 12, just how important is this game for the Cyclones?

Fennelly doesn’t think they’re in a must-win situation just yet, although it’s getting close.

“It’s a game that I think will set the tone, one way or another, in a large part for the rest of the season,” he said. “If we’re 4-4, we’re right in the middle of the pack, which is where we want to be.”

Tip-off is slated for 2 p.m. Sunday in Hilton Coliseum.