It’s almost like night and day.

You can count the similarities between the ISU and Nebraska women’s basketball teams on one hand.

When they take the court Saturday, both will be all-female teams that compete in the Big 12 conference, play solid defense, and have the ability to put points on the board.

Besides that, they have little in common.

“We have to deal with the issue of which style can overcome,” ISU head coach Bill Fennelly said. “Their style is much different from ours and we need to be able to play ours.”

The Cyclones, one of the most all-around fundamentally sound teams in the NCAA, use a conservative but effective zone defense and practice a solid and often spectacular ball-control offense.

Featuring precision passing and a barrage of long-range snipers, ISU is everything that Nebraska is not.

“It’s going to be like a street fight,” Fennelly said. “Nebraska’s very physical, they play hard and they always try hard to take you out of your game.”

The bulldogs of the Big 12, Nebraska is scrappy, aggressive and ugly. Their physical offensive attack feeds predominantly from a tenacious defense that will hound the Cyclones for all of both halves.

Feeling the brunt of that pressure will be Cyclone guards Stacy Frese and Tracy Gahan.

“We’ll definitely have to help Stacy bring the ball up the court,” Gahan said. “They’ll pressure the whole 40 minutes and play a run-and-jump and a half-court trap. We’re all going to have to do a little more handling the ball to relieve Stacy of some of the pressure.”

The Huskers, originally picked by some to contend for the Big 12 title, opened the season in disappointing fashion, by dropping six of their first 12 games, including home losses to Drake and Brigham Young and disappointing road losses to the likes of Alabama-Birmingham and Santa Barbara.

When they dropped their Big 12 opener to Texas, it looked like their season may be over before it actually started.

“They probably haven’t played as well as they’re capable,” Fennelly said, “but then they go to Kansas on Tuesday and win. That’s probably the Nebraska team that everybody expected.”

The Huskers accomplished the improbable by upsetting Kansas in Lawrence, 81-69. Momentum from such a victory will certainly carry over into Saturday’s contest.

“They’re going to come in here expecting to beat us,” Gahan said. “They’ll definitely be up for the game and we’ll just have to come in focused and match their enthusiasm.”

“They’re very talented,” Fennelly said. “They start three seniors and two fourth-year juniors. Without question, they’re the most experienced team in our league.”

Two of those seniors are guards Nicole Kubik and Brooke Schwartz, who lead the team, averaging 16.1 and 14.1 points per game, respectively.

“Individually, you’ve got to look at Nicole Kubik and Brooke Schwartz,” Fennelly said. “They’re guards who take a lot of the shots and dictate the flow of the game at both ends.”

The Huskers’ leading rebounder so far this year has been 6-foot-2 senior forward Charlie Rogers.

“Charlie Rogers, inside, is somebody that isn’t really looked upon as a star, but I think is a very good player,” Fennelly said. “She always plays well against us and rebounds the ball well.

“Those are the three seniors from Nebraska and we expect them to be a little more motivated. If we can deal with those three, we have a chance.”

Gahan endorsed the same analysis of the Huskers.

“We can’t let their big players get on a roll and hit their first few shots,” she said. “We just have to make sure we contain them and play our defense the way it’s taught.”

Unfortunately for Iowa State, Kubik, Schwartz and Rogers aren’t the only Nebraska threats. Juniors Casey Leonhardt and Melody Peterson have combined to average 20.1 points and 11.8 rebounds per game so far.

“For us, the key is to play the way that we play,” Fennelly said. “If we can keep our poise and not let the physical nature of the game and the helter skelter style impact us too much, then I think we have a chance to win.”

“If we guard them how Coach Fennelly has taught us to guard them and how we’ve been practicing, we should be able to contain everyone,” Gahan said.

As far as motivation is concerned, there is never a shortage when Iowa State battles Nebraska- especially after their one-point loss in Lincoln last season.

“It’s always a little more motivating to play Nebraska because they’re a big rival of ours and they’re always very good,” Gahan said. “At the same time, it’s just another game. It’s just as important as any other game, but we can’t say it’s a lot more so.”

The Cornhuskers aren’t where they’d like to be at this point in the season, but the combination of aggressive play and senior leadership makes them a team the Cyclones can’t take lightly.

“A lot of people have written them off, but they’re mature kids that have a lot of pride,” Fennelly said. “I think we’ll have a dogfight.”