Both the men’s and women’s basketball teams will be making their way to Kansas City in hopes of winning the Big 12 tournament.

The women found out who their first opponent will be when Oklahoma State defeated Kansas State Tuesday afternoon in Kansas City.

The Cowboys may have done Iowa State a favor by winning the contest. The Cyclones struggled mightily with the Wildcats this season, winning by three at Hilton Coliseum before falling by nine in Manhattan.

Meanwhile, the Cyclones dispatched the Cowboys 76-64 in Stillwater on Jan. 18. Iowa State used a balanced attack that has been the trademark of the team this season.

Angie Welle led the team with 17 points, while Megan Taylor had 15 points and 15 rebounds.

Also in double figures were Stacy Frese with 14 and Tracy Gahan, who sank 6 of her 7 shots en route to 14 points.

In winning their last four games of the regular season, the Cyclones have been simply dominating.

They have averaged 93.3 points, while shooting 56 percent from the floor. They have also outrebounded their opponents by an average of nine caroms per game.

Iowa State has also excelled on an individual level. Angie Welle has averaged 21.5 points and 8.8 rebounds while shooting an astounding 84 percent of her shots from the floor.

Frese has averaged 3.2 three-pointers and dished out an average of 6.5 assists per contest as well. Gahan has 25 assists in the stretch with only five turnovers.

Taylor has been simply on fire, nailing 75 percent of her shots from the floor and 65 percent from the three-point arc.

And Lindsey Wilson, who was recently named Big 12 Rookie of the Week, has been an integral part of the resurgence, scoring 9.0 points per game in just 20 minutes per contest.

The team will get a lift when forward Desiree Francis, who averages 14 points per game, returns from a broken hand to aid the Cyclone cause.

The Cyclones will take on Oklahoma State today at noon. The game will be televised on WOI Channel 5.

Meanwhile, the awards keep coming in for the men’s team. Larry Eustachy was named Big 12 Coach of the Year in a unanimous vote.

The coach deflected all compliments in the direction of his team, which finished the Big 12 season with a record of 26-4, including a 14-2 mark in conference play.

“The reason I was named coach of the year was because we have good players,” Eustachy said. “I didn’t feel like I had anything to prove. I proved to myself 10 years ago that I was comfortable getting a collection of players to play to their potential.”

The vote was conducted among 24 reporters who regularly cover the Big 12 teams.

Monday it was announced that forward Marcus Fizer and guard Jamaal Tinsley had both been named to the First Team All-Big 12 squad, while Michael Nurse garnered third-team honors.

Tinsley also made the All-Defensive team and the All-Newcomer squad and has a chance to be named Newcomer of the Year.

Eustachy recognized that Cyclone supporters across the state of Iowa have been clamoring for their team to get the respect they had earned.

“I’m happy for the fans and the players and the people around me, the assistant coaches. The fans were starved for this,” Eustachy said.

Iowa State, which has the probable Big 12 Player of the Year in Fizer, has been one of the surprise teams in the country this season.

Fizer was named a finalist in the John R. Wooden Award, given annually to the best player in the country. The list was pared to 22 and will be down to 10 on March 28.

The winner of the award will be announced April 7.

The Cyclones will play their first game in the Big 12 tournament on Friday at noon. They will face off against the winner of the Baylor-Nebraska contest held Thursday afternoon.