Iowa State’s reward for upending the then-No. 13 Texas Longhorns is an early-week road game against No. 13 Texas Tech in Lubbock, the only city in the Big 12 where the Cyclones have never won a game.

“We haven’t won at Tech before, but there’s a lot of things we haven’t done before,” said ISU head coach Bill Fennelly.

Fennelly said this looks like it will be the toughest stretch yet, as Iowa State plays four of its next five games on the road.

“This is probably the most important stretch of our season,” said sophomore guard Lyndsey Medders.

“It’s critical to the success of what we want to do.”

Medders said the “mini-stretches” allow the team to focus on its short-term goals while working toward the ultimate goal — the NCAA tournament.

“We understand if we achieve our short-term goals that in the long term, we’re going to be looking pretty good,” she said.

Tech will enter the game with a 16-4 record, its four losses by a combined nine points.

In its game Saturday, Tech fell to then-No. 8 Baylor in a close 52-49 game.

“Texas Tech is a hard place to play, and they lost their last game. They’re not going to be in a good mood,” Fennelly said.

Iowa State has won three of its four Big 12 road games, and Medders said the key is to stay focused, especially in a hostile Red Raider environment.

“We just have to go in there knowing it’s us against them,” Medders said.

“It’s still a basketball game. It’s still 5-on-5. They don’t have an extra player — obviously some extra fans, but it’s still a basketball game.”

The Lady Raiders, like the Cyclones, are balanced both offensively and defensively. Tech has four players who are in the top 20 in the Big 12 in scoring. Alesha Robertson leads the team with 14.4 points, followed by Chesley Dabbs, Cristi Greenwalt and LaToya Davis with 13.8, 13.6 and 11.4 points, respectively.

“Everyone knew they had great guard play … but their big kids have played well,” Fennelly said.

“I think their inside game is playing at a higher level than anyone thought, and that’s allowed them to be very good.”

In the paint, Greenwalt is second in the Big 12 in rebounding, pulling down 9.6 boards per game. She also has a league-leading 73 blocks on the season, which is 31 more than Texas’ Tiffany Jackson, who is in second place.

Every team in the Big 12 has to play eight conference road games, and Iowa State still has to travel to No. 7 Baylor on Feb. 19.

“Everyone goes through it, and this is our turn,” Fennelly said.

“It’s not great scheduling and not a lot of fun … but we just need to see where the season takes us in these next 15 days, and hopefully there’s some bright spots in there.”

Iowa State’s two losses — Iowa and Kansas State — were both on the road, and Fennelly said it is pivotal for the Cyclones to get off to a good start.

“The two road games we lost we got off to a terrible start, so the challenge for us is to try and get off to a better start and at least get to halftime thinking we have a chance to win,” he said.