The ISU team that Colorado faces at Hilton Coliseum on Wednesday is a mirror image of where the Buffaloes were last year.

A strong senior class, led by All-American Tera Bjorklund, helped the Buffaloes go 22-8 and receive an NCAA Tournament berth last year. Included in that run were two wins over the Cyclones, who finished the 2003-04 season with an 18-15 record.

With the graduation of four seniors and the transfers of two players who were expected to be major contributors, Colorado has been left to rebuild while the Cyclones have flourished under the leadership of their five seniors.

One of those seniors, guard Anne O’Neil, is just two points away from becoming the 16th player in Cyclone women’s basketball history to score 1,000 career points. She leads the Cyclones in scoring, rebounds and steals, and is second on the team in assists.

“I haven’t really thought about it that much, but it’s exciting,” O’Neil said. “There are a lot of great basketball players that have gone through here, and so it’s nice to be put in that category. It’s still a basket away, so, hopefully, I can make one.”

At this point last season, Iowa State held a 10-8 record and was in the bottom half of the Big 12. This season, the Cyclones are 16-2 (6-1 Big 12) and ranked No. 19 in the latest Associated Press poll.

“Every year is a new team, and this team has a lot of experience with five seniors,” O’Neil said. “I just think the chemistry has gotten better throughout the year, and we just expect to win. I think attitude and the way you work and the way we work together has really been key.”

ISU head coach Bill Fennelly said the emergence of the big three — seniors O’Neil, Mary Fox and Katie Robinette — and the maturation of sophomores Megan Ronhovde and Lyndsey Medders have aided the Cyclones in what they lacked last season: offensive output.

“All the players we play are better than they were last year, and you have to give them credit for that,” Fennelly said. “That’s something they did in the offseason. You can’t work with the kids in the offseason, so they have to be self-motivated.”

A year ago, Iowa State averaged 65.2 points per game; this season they lead the Big 12 in scoring offense, pouring in 78.9 points per contest.

Colorado (8-10, 1-6) arrives at Hilton Coliseum having lost their last three games, and Fennelly is happy to be home again after their win over Oklahoma.

“We had a huge win Saturday on the road, and you have to bring that same enthusiasm back home,” he said. “[The Colorado game is] one of five chances to play here, and we don’t want to waste them.”

O’Neil said before Iowa State worries about the Buffaloes, it needs to focus on itself.

One of the areas the Cyclones need to improve is rebounding. They have been outrebounded in only four games this season, but have been beaten on the boards by an average of 19 rebounds in their last two contests.

“We have to worry about Iowa State first and how we’ve been playing,” O’Neil said.

“We just need to rebound the ball better than we have been, offensively and defensively. That’s going to be our main focus.”

Iowa State beat Colorado in Boulder 76-64 on Jan. 8, when five Cyclones scored in double figures. O’Neil paced the scoring attack with 19 points and pulled down 11 rebounds. Iowa State outrebounded Colorado by 12, and had 18 offensive rebounds.