Most Iowa State students know that the football team has a five-year winning streak in the heated instate rivalry with Iowa, but few could probably tell you that the women’s basketball team also has dominated the past half-decade of the series.

Tonight the Cyclones will look to make it six in a row, when they take to the road for the first time this year.

“If you can’t get excited about playing Iowa on the road then you shouldn’t be playing,” ISU head coach Bill Fennelly said. “This is one of those games that even people who don’t like women’s basketball will look at the score. This game means a lot to our fans and program.”

Fennelly took the rivalry even a step further.

“Not only is this Iowa vs. ISU, but it is Big Ten vs. the Big 12,” he said.

“There is always a constant debate not only on who won but whose conference is better.”

Anne O’Neil, Tracy Paustian, Lisa Kriener, Erica Junod and freshman Kandice Beenken all played high school basketball in Iowa.

“We all know what this rivalry means to the fans and our program,” Junod said. “Emotionally, this is the biggest game of the season for us.”

Iowa State (1-1) heads to Carver-Hawkeye Arena after dropping a hard-fought 63-61 decision against Drake last week.

“That was a heartbreaker,” O’Neil said. “We had a lot of opportunities to win but let them slip away.”

O’Neil, who prepped at Cedar Rapids Kennedy, is looking forward to being a part of this rivalry. She played Iowa twice while wearing an Illinois jersey, but is excited to see what it is all about as a Cyclone sophomore.

“I don’t remember much about my Illinois days, but I think we lost both games to Iowa,” said O’Neil, who came off the bench against Drake to score 16 points. “Any intrastate game is always huge, and this is a good match-up. They have a good team.”

Iowa is currently 3-1 and, according to Fennelly, has maybe the best lineup the Cyclones have seen from the Hawkeyes the past five seasons.

“Four out of the last five years we have had more talent,” Fennelly said.

“This year they have better players than us. They know we have beaten them five years in a row. That has to be up on a bulletin board somewhere.”

After waiting almost a week to get back on the court after the Drake game, Fennelly says his team is anxious to compete.

“We need to play hard and do the things that we need to do to get the win. Can we do it for 40 minutes on the road? That remains to be seen.”