Normally, a big part of the Iowa State’s women’s basketball team’s preparation for a game involves the scouting of its opponent.

However, a wrench is thrown into those plans this week, as Iowa State won’t know if it is playing Oklahoma State or Kansas State until about 2 p.m. today, less than 24 hours before the Cyclones will tip off their tournament game Wednesday at noon.

“We are preparing for both teams right now. We’re not telling our players which team the coaches are looking at a little more, but we’ve used this time as more of a time to work on our sets,” ISU coach Bill Fennelly said.

The Cyclones struggled this season against Kansas State, falling to the Wildcats in Manhattan after winning by three points in Ames.

Meanwhile, Iowa State played well in a win over Oklahoma State in Stillwater on Jan. 18.

The Cyclones will be playing with Desiree Francis, who practiced for the first time Monday.

Francis employed a splint on two fingers on her left hand, and appeared to suffer very little in her play.

Fennelly says she will be eased back into the action.

“We’re looking to play her 10-12 minutes in the first game and work our way up from there. Her problem will be not only with her hand, but with her conditioning. You’ve got to remember, she hasn’t done anything in nine days,” Fennelly said.

ISU center Angie Welle says Francis will give the team a lift.

“It won’t be necessarily that she’ll come back and score 20 points or anything. I mean, she’s playing with eight fingers, but just to know that she can come in if we need her is important to us,” Welle said.

Although players coming back from injury often times have to overcome a fear of re-injury, Fennelly said Francis showed no signs of that Monday.

“She was really flying around out there and wasn’t that cautious at all. One thing I can’t do anymore is yell at her for getting those one-handed rebounds,” Fennelly said.

The Cyclones are still riding high after the celebration held in Hilton Coliseum Sunday afternoon that honored both the men’s and women’s teams for winning the Big 12 regular season title.

“I think it said so much about the fans, that they would spend all that time in here when there wasn’t even a game going on. It shows that they care as much about who we are as people as the basketball,” Welle said.

A year ago, Iowa State advanced to the finals of the Big 12 Tournament before losing to Texas Tech.

Welle says that experience will help the team.

“I think it helps a lot. Last year we had a lot of new people, and they really didn’t know what it was like. But we got to see the atmosphere, and we know what type of mentality it takes to get it done,” Welle said.

Fennelly said the fact the Cyclones are seeded No. 1 doesn’t mean much.

“It really only tells you what time you play. I look around, and the No. 1 seed in the Big Ten lost, the No. 1 in the team in the ACC lost, and Tennessee really should have lost,” Fennelly said. “So it really doesn’t improve your chances all that much.”