Women’s basketball coach Bill Fennelly was happy with Saturday’s 72-70 win over Kansas. But it was the rebounding edge that worried him, especially going into Wednesday’s road game against No. 4 Kansas State, 15-1 and 2-0 in the Big 12.

Kansas outrebounded the Cyclones by 19 Saturday, and things won’t get any easier against a big Kansas State team.

“We spent a lot of time talking and working on that because we’re not a very tall team,” Fennelly said. “We knew we would have some rebounding problems but not to that degree, that’s totally unacceptable and our kids know that. It’s obviously a huge concern going into any game, let alone playing the No. 4 team in the country.”

Rebounding won’t be the only problem for the Cyclones as the Wildcats sport two of the Big 12’s top scorers in forward Kendra Wecker and center Nicole Ohlde.

At nearly 18 points and nine rebounds a game, Ohlde will prove to be a challenge for Iowa State’s Lisa Kriener.

“Do the things you know you can control,” Fennelly said. “Don’t give up transition baskets, try not to give up second shots, make every shot they take a tough one, no dumb fouls.”

Wecker is leading Kansas State with 20 points a game and also pulls in eight rebounds a game. Fennelly wants his team to match Kansas State’s intensity and is also hoping the Wildcats will miss some shots.

“Make them do things they don’t want to do, maybe force them into shots they don’t want to take,” senior forward Mary Cofield said. “I think that is the biggest key on players like that.”

Fennelly also stressed that Ohlde and Wecker won’t be held scoreless, because of their playing level, but he thinks taking away the easy baskets may prove to be the difference.

“Instead of getting 18 they get 14,” Fennelly said. “Shutting them down is not an option, slowing them down is what you’re trying to do.”

Along with the rebounding and the Wildcats’ star players, the Cyclones have to worry about the Kansas State crowd, one of the biggest Cofield and other upperclassmen have experienced.

“I think you have to rely on the experiences we’ve had this year,” Fennelly said. “We’ve played a lot of good teams on the road, you tell all your kids this is not a new experience.”

Fennelly’s plan to battle the crowd and the road atmosphere is to stay focused early on.

“Whenever you play a good team on the road the No. 1 thing I tell our kids is you can’t get knocked out in the first round,” Fennelly said. “Catching up on the road is a very difficult thing, so the first-round knockout is always something we talk a lot about. You have to have a chance to settle into the game.”

Iowa State, 6-7 and 1-1 in the Big 12, is feeling better about this game after pulling out a close one against Kansas. For the younger players on the team, Fennelly is confident they know what to expect by this point.

“I think they are starting to figure it out,” Fennelly said. “We’ve played two Big 12 games — two close games — and we won a close game, so we understand at least to some degree the rigors of what this league is all about.”

As a senior, Cofield is ready for what may be Iowa State’s toughest game in conference play and is even hoping to use the hostile crowd to the Cyclones’ advantage. But she said it’s the coaches that prepare them the best.

“Coaches do such a good job of putting together a scouting report and making us understand that it’s an important game, especially when you’re on the road,” Cofield said. “I think we all know, even the younger girls, how tough it is to play a game like this.”

Beating a top-five team on the road isn’t easy, but it can be done and Fennelly knows what it will take.

“You have to do the little things to have a chance to win on the road,” Fennelly said. “We have to rebound better, you have to try and take away as much as you can from what they do best.”

Iowa State will return to Hilton Coliseum Sunday to host Missouri.