If there were ever a time for ISU women’s basketball to kick it into gear, this would be it.

Only five regular season games remain for the ISU women’s basketball team and each one is becoming more and more important.

Following the team’s Feb. 14 loss at Oklahoma State, its second straight, Iowa State is now tied with two other teams for third place in the conference standings. Just one game behind, though, lays four other Big 12 teams.

With time running out to make a move in the standings, a good opportunity awaits Iowa State (15-9, 6-7 Big 12) when it hosts Oklahoma (16-8, 10-3 Big 12) on Feb. 17 at Hilton Coliseum.

“There’s a lot of possibilities for a lot of teams,” Fennelly said. “I’m sure the Big 12 office is pulling their hair out trying to figure out tiebreakers at this point. Everyone wants an opportunity and we have one with these last five games.”

The Cyclones have faced the Sooners once before this season, however, they lost by nine points on the road. Even though the team couldn’t add a mark to the win column the first time around, senior guard Nikki Moody dropped a career-high 30 points that day.

And since then, Moody has stolen the show. The Dallas native has averaged more than 17 points and nearly eight assists through the last nine games, which is best on the team. She also leads the nation with the best assist rating and is second nationally in career assists.

But what happens when the shots don’t fall? Well, against Oklahoma State last weekend, Iowa State only hit 18 of 69 shots. The Cyclones also shot just 6-of-25 from 3-point range.

“You can play poorly, but if you make shots everything is better,” Fennelly said. “When you go on the road or play anyone and your starters shoot 23 percent, you’re not going to win many games.”

Like Fennelly said, it’s tough to win if you can’t make shots. But when they pass up open shots, like the players feel they have been lately, it gets even tougher.

“We just have to embrace it,” said junior guard Nicole “Kidd” Blaskowsky. “When we do have those shots, we just have to shoot them. When not, that’s when you have to adjust your game a little bit.”

Fennelly said he has put his team through a bunch of shooting drills lately, along with reviewing some of the better shooting games with his players.

And if the Cyclones are going to pull themselves out of their newfound slump of sorts, tonight’s matchup is a good place to start.

“All these games that we’ve been in, it’s been close,” Blaskowsky said. “It’s been in the last stretch that’s hurt us the most. We just have to stay locked in and do what we know how to do and just play our game.”