Since their last meeting Jan. 5, there haven’t been two hotter teams in the Big 12 than Iowa State and Kansas State. The Cyclones beat the Wildcats 78-59 in that game and have gone on to win four straight conference games.

After the contest, Kansas State has won five straight games, including a 55-53 upset of No. 10 Texas Tech on Saturday.

“We need to go on the road and play well against a team that is the prohibitive favorite to win the conference,” said ISU head coach Bill Fennelly. “Their win over Tech puts them in a great position.”

In the Cyclones’ last matchup with the Wildcats, Katie Robinette and Anne O’Neil scored 42 points on 17 out of 27 shooting combined, pacing Iowa State’s 64.6 shooting percentage.

The Cyclones also got double-digit point production from Lyndsey Medders, Mary Fox and Megan Ronhovde, who poured in 12, 11 and 11, respectively.

Kansas State used a small starting line-up, with 5-foot-11 forward Kendra Wecker as the Wildcats’ tallest player. This allowed 6-foot-2 Robinette to be a threat around the basket, where she pulled down 11 rebounds and blocked five shots.

“It was a competitive game,” Robinette said. “They have good post players; they just didn’t play them that game. We found the mismatches inside and my height advantage and we took advantage of it.”

Fennelly said he doesn’t expect the same game plan from the Wildcats this time.

“We didn’t even show our players the tape of last game because [Kansas State] won’t play that way again, and if they do, I will take full blame for it,” he said.

In Kansas State’s game against Texas Tech, Wecker became the fifth player in Big 12 women’s basketball history to score 2,000 career points.

“She is the best player in our league, and she’s playing that way,” Fennelly said.

Wecker, a senior All-American, is averaging 20.4 points and 9.1 rebounds per game.

“She takes over games at both ends of the court,” Fennelly said. “She scores, she rebounds and she shoots the ball a lot and takes up a lot of your defense.”

Both Iowa State and Kansas State feature a strong senior class. In addition to Wecker’s contributions, seniors Laurie Koehn and Megan Mahoney average 12.3 and 10.4 points per game, respectively.

All three of Iowa State’s senior starters — Robinette, O’Neil and Fox — have scored in double digits in all five of the Cyclones’ conference games.

The Cyclones’ last trip to Bramlage Coliseum wasn’t a pleasant one, enduring a 68-33 defeat on Feb. 25, 2004. Iowa State shot only 25 percent and began the second half hitting only one of its first 11 shots.

“[Playing Kansas State is] a great opportunity for us, and we have to look at it as an opportunity. It’s nothing to be scared about,” Fennelly said.