The ISU women’s basketball team returns to the road in search of its first victory away from home Saturday as it travels to Lincoln to face the Nebraska Cornhuskers.

Nebraska, on the other hand, will be looking for any Big 12 win it can find — the Cornhuskers are winless in league play.

The Cyclones (6-8, 1-2 Big 12) hope to bounce back from an 86-55 loss to Missouri last Sunday. Nebraska also ran into a red-hot Missouri team on Wednesday, turning the ball over 26 times on their way to a 65-53 loss.

ISU head coach Bill Fennelly said both teams will be hungry for a victory in a conference, where every win comes with a fight.

“They are probably looking at this game like we are,” he said. “It’s a chance for both teams to win a game.

“In our league, every opportunity you have to try and find a win you better take advantage of it. I’m sure, just like we have with most teams, we’ll get their best shot. Hopefully we can find a way to score.”

ISU senior guard Lindsey Wilson, coming off a season-high 25 points against Missouri, expects a tough match-up with Nebraska.

“Nebraska has always played pretty well against us,” she said. “It seems like we’ve had a long history of battling.”

The Huskers (7-8, 0-4) are led by junior forward Alexa Johnson, averaging 15.7 points per game. She is followed by senior guard Margaret Richards and her 12.1 per game.

The Cyclones are depending even more on their outside shooting this season, while their young front court gains more experience.

Fennelly said that his young forward-center tandem of Lisa Kriener and Brittany Wilkins are close, but not quite at the level he expects them to play at.

“We’ve shot the three fairly well all year, and that’s always something we need to get some of the pressure off of Lisa and Brittany because they are not quite ready to take that pressure upon themselves,” he said.

Wilson also believes the team needs to get more balance.

“There are certain shots that you kind of have to make. We need the inside shots to go in and free up the outside ones,” she said. “We’ve got to try and move the ball around, and also get some transition baskets.”

As far as improving, Wilkins already has a finger on what she needs to do better.

“We’ve been working on maintaining contact. Personally, I’ve got to do a better job of going and getting the ball and holding onto it,” she said.

Fennelly sees a lot of similarities between the two teams.

“They’re a team like us. They’re really struggling to score points,” he said.

“They have a couple of players that have been pretty consistent all year, and had some other people that have popped up. In this league, you can’t stop the other team’s best players. Hopefully you can make their shots tougher.”

Wilkins, a redshirt freshman from Kennard, Neb., will be playing her first game in a Cyclone uniform in her home state.

“I’m always excited to go back and see my friends,” she said. “It’ll give me a chance to show them how much I’ve improved. I’m pretty excited.”

While she is ready to enjoy the homecoming, Wilkins knows she must take care of business first.

“Most of all, we’ve just got to get ourselves a win,” she said.