ISU women’s basketball’s 75-54 defeat to No. 4 Texas on Wednesday night showed a lot of bad for the Cyclones. But, as ISU coach Bill Fennelly said after the game, he learns more about his team from a loss than from a win. 

That is certainly the case after Wednesday.

Iowa State (10-4, 2-1 Big 12) will take on Kansas (5-9, 0-3 Big 12) at 7 p.m. Saturday in Ames in an attempt to improve on its performance against Texas. 

The key for the Cyclones has been consistency on offense. Last Wednesday, Iowa State dropped 84 points on Kansas State on its way to a 84-79 victory. 

Since then, the Cyclones’ offense has struggled.

Against Oklahoma State, Iowa State mustered 49 points. Despite winning 49-42, Iowa State shot 22.6 percent from the field.

Against Texas on Wednesday, the Cyclones shot 33.3 percent from the field and only scored 54 points.

“We’ve got to be ready to go,” Fennelly said. “Luckily, I think we have the maturity on the team to understand that, and we’ve got to get to work today and come out tomorrow night and get better offensively than we have in the past two games.”

But just because Kansas sits last in the Big 12, that doesn’t mean that the game will be an easy one. Iowa State dropped both games against Kansas last season, even though the Jayhawks finished with a losing overall and conference record. 

“It’s still a basketball game, you’ve still got to get ready,” said point guard Jadda Buckley. “You have to be prepared. You have to knock down shots, play defense and know the scouting report. In the Big 12, it’s anyone’s night, anywhere.”

The Big 12 has shown a level playing field so far, with six of the 10 teams sitting at 2-1 in Big 12 play. Texas sits atop the conference with a 3-0 record. Since the league is so close, the Cyclones are trying to avoid the dreaded losing streak. 

This weekend’s game against Kansas can be a good chance for Iowa State to get back in the win column and try to reconcile its eight-game winning streak, which was snapped Wednesday. 

“I told the team, ‘When you’re playing in a league like this, the last thing you want to avoid is a losing streak,'” Fennelly said. “And the one thing you want to get is a winning streak, even if it’s two. And that’s what we have to avoid right now. We have to avoid a losing streak.”

It doesn’t help that Kansas comes in with a whole new look after hiring Brandon Schneider before this season. Iowa State plays every team in the Big 12 twice each season, but the change of guard at Kansas leaves the Cyclones pondering what it will bring to Hilton Coliseum on Saturday. 

“I think the other thing is the new coach,” Fennelly said. “It’s a completely different team. They are doing a lot of different stuff. It seems like every game— defensively they’re doing some different things, offensively doing some different things. Dealing with a team like that, you never know what’s going to happen.”