When the ISU women’s basketball team travels to Austin, Texas, on Wednesday night to take on No. 4 Texas, it will be out-matched — at least on paper. 

The Longhorns enter the game a perfect 13-0 on the season and 2-0 in the Big 12. Combining size with strength, the Longhorns possess a mixture that could derail the Cyclones’ eight-game winning streak. 

“On paper, it’s a mismatch,” said ISU coach Bill Fennelly when discussing his game plan. “We’ve got to get creative and make some stuff up. We can gamble a little bit on both ends of the court on what we want to do.”

But this isn’t the first time the Cyclones will be against the odds while traveling to Austin, Texas. Last season, Iowa State knocked off Texas twice, once in Ames when the Longhorns were ranked third and once on the road when they were ranked eighth. 

This time, the thought of another upset keeps Iowa State motivated. 

“I think the challenge of playing a great team always excites people,” Fennelly said. “You try to use everything you can. When you’re dealing with young people sometimes, you’ve got to come up with some stuff. Last year, we had some success against Texas. We’ve had some success against them over the years.”

The biggest challenge against Texas, as has been in past years, is matching up with its size. The Longhorns rank 22nd in the NCAA in rebounds per game, coming in at 44.46. The rebounding charge is led by 6-foot-9 center Imani Boyette, who averages 9.1 rebounds per game.

“We’re not going to go down there an out-rebound them,” Fennelly said. “You’re not going to go down there and stop some things. I’m not saying that we’re going to go down there and put up 80 points, that’s not going to happen, but you’ve got to give yourselves a chance to win the game.”

Although Fennelly realizes that it will be tough to dominate the boards against the Longhorns, he said there are other ways for the team to keep up. One of them is getting the guards involved rather than relying on forwards Bryanna Fernstrom and Meredith Burkhall. 

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