Iowa State women’s basketball ended the regular season on a high note after a big win over the Kansas Jayhawks and now look forward to the Big 12 Championship Tournament with a chance to earn not just a potential tournament championship but possibly a higher seed in the NCAA Tournament.

The Cyclones will be up against the Texas Longhorns on Friday to open the Big 12 Tournament; the Longhorns defeated the Cyclones in both meetings they’ve had this season.

Head Coach Bill Fennelly talked to the media Tuesday about what it’ll take to beat them this time around and advance.

Tournament mindset

With the postseason about to be underway in Kansas City, Fennelly is riding on the team to get into the right mindset before playing their first game.  

Despite the fact that the Cyclones have not defeated the Longhorns this season, he believes that with the right attitude and mentality, the team can get it done. 

“I think that the whole tournament mindset hopefully kicks in and we get that little bit of edge that the special teams and players get in March,” Fennelly said. “This is like an NCAA Tournament game. That’s kind of what the Big 12 Tournament is about when you get into these No. 4 and 5 games.”

Iowa State finished fourth in the Big 12 this season with Texas at fifth and will face-off against the Longhorns at 10:30 a.m. Friday.

With the right mindset and preparations, the Cyclones are hoping to get a win over the Longhorns this season after losing both games in the regular season by double digits.

Getting Ashley Joens going

In the two meetings with the Longhorns, Ashley Joens had a hard time getting much going offensively.

Though in the first meeting she finished with 19 points and 17 in the second, the Longhorns gave her a tough time as they were very physical, and she had to force herself to the free-throw line for a majority of the games for most of her points. 

Fennelly mentioned how important it’ll be for Joens to come out Friday and have a good game for the Cyclones to advance.

“[Joens] has not played great against Texas; the second time at home, she got in foul trouble, and she did OK but not the way she normally would be,” Fennelly said. “First game down there, she really struggled to score, but they do a good job, they’re going to make it tough on her like everyone does.” 

While Joens hasn’t had her best games against Texas this season, Fennelly mentioned she’ll have to work hard to have a great game. 

“I think the biggest thing is seeing if we can get her off to a good start,” Fennelly said. “She’s had some trouble getting going against Texas in both games, so we have to be really smart about where and how we give her the ball.”

Room for improvement

After failing to get a win over the Longhorns this season, Fennelly knows there are certain areas of the Cyclones’ game that need improvement in order to win. 

He felt both games were fairly similar in the way the games were played and how they ended, commenting on a few common denominators that gave the team problems.

One of them was Longhorns junior forward Charli Collier. 

Collier was huge for the Longhorns in both meetings with the Cyclones as she finished with 36 points and 33 rebounds combined for both games. She was a big presence in the paint, and the Cyclones did not have an answer for her in either of the two meetings.

In addition to having to watch out for Collier on the floor, Fennelly mentioned a few other things the Cyclones need to be wary of heading into Friday. 

“Our inability to get anything offensively [was a problem],” Fennelly said. “We scored 59 in both games, our shot and free-throw attempts were down, but I think this idea of playing against this pressure defense is hard to simulate in practice.”

The Longhorns play a physical-style pressure defense, and Fennelly understands this poses an issue for the Cyclones because they’re not used to it. It is hard to simulate it in practice, and there’s no one else in the Big 12 who plays that style defense. 

With this in mind, the Cyclones will have to play through that defense and try to get going offensively in order to improve on their last meetings with the Longhorns.

Fennelly knows how big of a game this will be for the Cyclones and said this is a big test this season. 

“This is a great challenge for our team,” Fennelly said. “We played in a really good league, and the only team that swept us was Texas, and now we get to go and play, which will be another reward or bonus to what has been the most unique basketball season I’ve ever been a part of.”