The ISU women’s basketball team will attempt to knock off another top-ranked team when they host 11th-ranked Texas on Saturday.

The Cyclones (9-12, 4-6 in the Big 12) were able to defeat Kansas State, ranked third at the time, 74-69 at home last month. They will now attempt to break a two-game skid following a 70-57 loss at Missouri on Wednesday night.

ISU head coach Bill Fennelly is just ready for this part of the schedule to be done with.

“This is the end of a long week for us. We knew it would be tough. We played one first-place team on Sunday, we get another first place team this Saturday,” he said. “You’ve got to hope we can find some energy to finish.”

This is the first meeting of the season between the Longhorns (16-5, 9-1 Big 12) and the Cyclones. The teams met in Austin last season, with the Longhorns stealing a 66-65 victory when a three-point attempt by Mary Cofield was in-and-out at the buzzer.

Iowa State will have its hands full with the Texas offense, which features four players averaging double-digits in scoring. The group is led by Stacy Stephens and Heather Schreiber, who are scoring 13.9 and 13.3 points per game, respectively.

Fennelly said the balance that Texas shows poses a problem for his team, as well as every other team in the conference. “If you can put five people on the court who can make a basket, then you are tough to guard,” he said. “We’ve seen that from them. Their balance isn’t just pure inside-outside either.”

ISU sophomore Lisa Kriener, who will be matched up with Stephens, said the team isn’t that familiar with Texas, but they know that they have a big task in front of them.

“Stacy Stephens is one of the most dominant posts in the country,” she said. “That’s something that is really a big opportunity for me. They’re an awesome team. We know we have our hands full, but I think it will be fun.”

The Cyclones hope to play in front of a packed house on Saturday, when campus organizations are attempting to sell out Hilton Coliseum for the first time in team history.

The Student Alumni Leadership Council, as well as the Department of Residence and the Inter-Residence Hall Association, are all promoting the event to fill up Hilton.

Dustin Villhauer, athletics promotions chairman for the council, said this will be a good opportunity for students and fans to see exactly what they have in mind for the proposed spirit section for the men’s and women’s home games.

“What we want to do is show everyone what the new student cheer group could be,” Villhauer said. “It’s just a huge opportunity for our students to bring back Hilton Magic, because we’ve been missing it. If we show people what this could be like, then hopefully it will encourage people to want to be a part of it.”

This is the second year the residence department and IRHA have teamed up and purchased several tickets for Saturday’s game, and are distributing them to the residence halls. They are also holding a contest to see who has the largest turnout from each of the floors in the residence halls.

Fennelly would love to see every seat full on Saturday to cheer his team on.”Our fans are tremendous. It would be a nice gesture by them,” he said.