AMES – The Cyclones travel to Kansas to take on the Jayhawks at 4 p.m. Saturday to start the final stretch of games following a week break.
Iowa State is seventh in the Big 12 standings at 8-5 and has the opportunity to pick up some crucial wins late in the season. Saturday against Kansas is the first repeat opponent the Cyclones have had all season.
“It’s just an odd thing, that, for the first time all season, this is conference game 14, that we’re seeing someone for the second time,” head coach Bill Fennelly said. “We’re gonna see Kansas State and UCF to end it. They’re still the same kind of team that I think we prepared for the first time.”
The first matchup with the Jayhawks saw the Cyclones take them down 78-64 at home, the first conference win of the season for Iowa State. Sophomore center Audi Crooks had 33 points on 13-for-18 shooting in the first matchup.
“They kind of let Audi [Crooks] go one-on-one, and she started out well, and they changed,” Fennelly said. “Historically, they’ve done a good job chasing us off the 3-point line. So you know, we’ll kind of see, we try to practice everything, every possibility.”
Crooks has averaged 24 points per game in conference play thus far and has been dominant no matter who is in front of her. Fifth-year senior guard Emily Ryan and sophomore forward Addy Brown are also scoring in double-figures in Big 12 play.
“Teams across the country, everyone is banged up. It’s just Emily [Ryan’s] ankle, Arianna Jackson’s got a foot thing that we just had to manage as best we can,” Fennelly said. “I do think the break came, momentum-wise I don’t know, but otherwise couldn’t have come at a better time.”
The Jayhawks have struggled all conference play, falling to 4-9 after an overtime loss against Cincinnati on Saturday. Iowa State will look to contain Kansas guards S’Mya Nichols and Elle Evans, who average 19 and 14 points per game, respectively.
“Nichols and Evans have really taken over offensively for them,” Fennelly said. “Defensively, they’re still really, really solid. The pace they play at, you know, they’re gonna make you earn it. Possessions are hard.”
Iowa State is coming off back-to-back wins, while the Jayhawks have lost three straight. This has not changed the mindset for Iowa State, though, which knows it has five meaningful games left to play.
“Scout goes in today [Thursday]. We’re gonna have to lock in and try to figure it out one practice at a time,” Ryan said. “And then four o’clock on Saturday, see what we got. They’re a really good team at home, especially.”
Similarly to the game at home against Utah in early January, the Cyclones are returning to the basics, not worrying about their opponent and who they are preparing for, but doing everything they can to be ready to play a basketball game.
“Going in it’s just another nameless, faceless opponent like coach Fennelly says,” Ryan said. “We’re trying to get one more win under our belt. So that’ll be the main focus.”
The final stretch of the season starts with Kansas at 4 p.m. Saturday, and the Cyclones know it. Being well rested, they believe they are ready to get it started.
“It came at a really good time for us, just to give a little break, a week that we could regather, regroup,” freshman guard Reagan Wilson said. “And then have one more big push toward the end of the season.”
The game will be live-streamed on ESPN+.
