The week that some had called ‘miserable’ is finally over.

Following back-to-back home losses to Kansas and Oklahoma State, ISU women’s basketball coach Bill Fennelly wants to get back on track. Iowa State (14-6, 5-4 Big 12) is traveling south to compete against Oklahoma (13-7, 7-2 Big 12) on Feb. 4, marking the first match this season between the two schools.

However, instead of the usual evening start that most weekday games have, this contest is a little different. The game is scheduled to tip at 10:30 a.m.

This will be the first game the Cyclones have played all year that starts before noon, something most teams don’t have to deal with through an entire season. With this being uncharted territory for the Cyclones, they are just hoping to stay focused in the days leading up to the game.

“I hope everyone is getting their sleep the next couple of nights,” said senior guard/forward Brynn Williamson. “It’ll be a little bit different, but I think we’ll do fine. The time might change, but the girls don’t.”

Oklahoma is hosting an elementary school day Feb. 4, when grade school children visit to watch the Big 12 matchup. With the crowd slightly different than usual, Fennelly compared the environment to a game played on a schoolyard playground.

“There will be this noise of just constant screaming of little kids and screaming at times when they don’t know why they’re screaming,” Fennelly said. “You play at 10:30 in the morning, and it’s just a very different environment than you’re used to. It’s like a basketball game in the middle of recess.”

Even though the game has an unusual start time, the game implications still remain the same. The Sooners sit in second place in the Big 12 standings, with the Cyclones following in close pursuit. A win here for Iowa State would create separation from the rest of the pack, and put the team in third place in the conference race.

But it’s not necessarily the standings or the numbers that are supplying the motivation for this game … it’s the back-to-back losses the Cyclones suffered last week that’s pushing the team ahead.

“I think for us, we kind of have to have a little bit of a push on our back now that we’ve lost two home games,” Williamson said. “I think that little stretch right there proved that you can’t just go in there being lackadaisical with a mentality that you aren’t going to win the game. It’ll be very important for us the rest of the season.”

Iowa State has won five of its last six against Oklahoma, even winning the last two matchups on the road against the Sooners. However, this year’s Oklahoma team is better than it has been in the past.

The Sooners currently have four players averaging double-figure points and have won eight of their last 10 games. They also have yet to record a loss in Norman, Okla. this season.

“Oklahoma is always a challenge because they play very fast,” Fennelly said. “They want to play an up-tempo offensive style and they’ve always been a struggle for us because they score the ball from a variety of spots. They might be the deepest team in our league.”

Moving past last week’s debacle and focusing on the Sooners has been the challenge to this point for Fennelly. He knows, though, that the best way to come out victorious begins with how the team prepares.

“We all go through those things and now it’s just a matter of finding a way to make it better,” Fennelly said. “The only way you make it better is you’re more committed, you work harder and you’re more focused on what you can control. That all starts with how you prepare for the next game.”