Mixing things up on the court has been a commonplace for coach Bill Fennelly and the Cyclones this season.

Heading into a game that the Cyclones simply cannot lose against a 6-10 Texas Tech team fresh off five straight losses and with an interim coach, there’s no reason to expect anything to change.

Fennelly said in practice the Cyclones had been mixing up lineups like usual.

“Hopefully we can find a good matchup,” Fennelly said. “We’ll see how practice goes today, and then we’ll make a decision.”

The constant mixing and matching has been a fascinating wrinkle this season, with players going in and out every couple of minutes depending on performances and matchups.

Nine of the 10 players Iowa State has used this year have started at least one game, and Bridget Carleton is the only player to not come off the bench in at least one game. Eight players are averaging 18 minutes or more per game, but Carleton is the only player averaging more than 30 minutes a contest.

Multiple times, Fennelly has made a substitution less than 90 seconds into the game.

Freshman center Kristin Scott admits it can be difficult to get in a rhythm with all the quick subs.

“Sometimes [it is],” Scott said. “You just have to make sure you’re always focused and locked in.”

The starting lineup sounds likely to shift once again. One reason could be that one of the Cyclones’ most important players, freshman forward Madison Wise, might be limited in Lubbock, Texas.

According to Fennelly, Wise has had cramping issues in her legs and may not play the 28 minutes she plays on average. Wise has been a revolution this season, averaging 8.9 points per game and providing six games with 14 or more points.

Even if the Cyclones head down to Lubbock with a player limited by injury, they’ll still approach tip-off as heavy favorites based on the Red Raiders’ past performances.

Texas Tech has lost all five Big 12 games by an average of 28.8 points per contest, including back-to-back losses by 40-plus points against No. 24 Oklahoma State and No. 6 Baylor. On Jan. 1, a day after the loss to Baylor, the Red Raiders fired head coach Candi Whitaker and gave assistant coach Shimmy Gray-Miller the interim tag for the rest of the season.

Fennelly isn’t focused on what’s going wrong with Tech, though.

“I’m more worried about us,” Fennelly said.

Tech doesn’t have one dominant scorer on the roster, with leading scorer Brittany Brewer averaging only 10.7 points per contest. In fact, the Red Raiders have four players averaging between 10.2 and 10.7 points per game.

Sophomore forward Adriana Camber said the Cyclones will have their hands full.

“It’s gonna take good defense from the whole team,” Camber said. “We’re not just trying to shut out one player.”

The Red Raiders have one of the most balanced offensive attacks in the country, but they are undone by a tendency to turn the ball over.

The Red Raiders are so generous to opponents, in fact, they average 19.4 turnovers per game. That’s over three turnovers per game more than any other Big 12 team.

To make matters worse for Texas Tech, the Red Raiders only force 12.9 turnovers per game on the defensive end. It’s hard to win basketball games in the Big 12 with a turnover margin of -6.6.

It’s no secret the Cyclones are in a slump at the moment. Having lost four straight games and plummeting down the Big 12 standings, the time is now for the Cyclones to pick up a much-needed victory and begin building momentum as the final stretch of the season approaches.