Iowa State took another step up in the Associated Press poll Monday, albeit a small one.

They moved from No. 19 to No. 18, but were leap-frogged by Kansas State, who moved from 20th to 16th.

The Wildcats beat then-No. 10 Texas Tech 55-53 on Saturday and Texas A&M 74-50 on Wednesday; the Cyclones rested during the week and beat Nebraska 74-54 on Saturday. Seeing a team you beat earlier in the season go past you in the polls can provide some pressure to prove that the voters were wrong, but Cyclone head coach Bill Fennelly said he doesn’t think his team needs any more of a push than they already have.

“I think at this point in the year, when you’re playing a good team and you’re having the kind of year we are, you have to have enough motivation,” Fennelly said. “We didn’t play really well down there last [year], so this is a big game in a lot of ways.

The trip to Bramlege Coliseum is the start of a two-game road trip that will end in Oklahoma on Saturday. The Sooners will be the first team from the Big 12 South that Iowa State has faced this year.

Soon after that comes a brutal stretch that starts at home against No. 15 Texas, then goes on the road to face No. 13 Texas Tech and a Nebraska squad that has already knocked off seventh-ranked Baylor at home and will be looking for revenge.

But first comes the Wildcats.

“There’s a lot of motivating factors in this game,” said senior forward Katie Robinette. “The last time we played them at their place, last year, we were embarrassed. We’re using that as motivation and the polls, and it’s a competitive rivalry.”

Last year, Iowa State managed only 11 points in the second half of a 68-33 drubbing that broke up the Cyclones’ three-game win streak. Kansas State ended up as a two seed in the women’s NCAA tournament, but bowed out in the second round to Minnesota. Iowa State was selected to the women’s NIT and advanced to the Final Four before losing to UNLV at Hilton Coliseum.

“We’re not going down [to Manhattan, Kansas] just to show up,” Fennelly said. “We’re going down there to prove we can play at the highest level and beat them.”