Just before the start of this year’s basketball season, ISU coach Bill Fennelly wrote down notes, possible strategies and other general ideas about the season.

Now, with only four regular season games left, Fennelly said most of those notes are at the dump.

“I write a lot of notes in the summer and I’ve thrown most of them away,” Fennelly said. “You plan for things … but that’s part of going through a whole season and adjusting and trying to manage it as best you can.”

The Cyclones have faced an immense amount of adversity this season, with multiple key players suffering season-ending injuries early in the year. But with tournament time approaching, Iowa State (16-9, 7-7 Big 12) is hoping to make a late season push to earn a bid to the NCAA tournament in March.

The first step to earning that bid, however, takes place Feb. 21 when the Cyclones travel to take on West Virginia (15-11, 5-9 Big 12) at 11 a.m. Feb. 21.

This game takes place just two weeks after the first meeting between the two teams, one where Iowa State came out victorious, 61-43.

And as it turns out, that game had a bigger effect on the team than one may think.

“We definitely needed that win,” said guard Seanna Johnson. “They’re a really great team, so I think that game helped a lot of my teammates get motivation and get their confidence levels higher.”

The Cyclones dropped two games on the road immediately following the West Virginia game on Feb. 7, but were able to pick up a win Feb. 17 in overtime against Oklahoma.

During the last four-game stretch, Fennelly has stressed two big points, the first of which was rebounding.

The Cyclones, while undersized and typically not the best rebounding team in the league, finished with 47 total rebounds against Oklahoma, including 14 offensive boards.

That performance is one that the team has been working to meet on a more consistent basis, saying they’ve learned how valuable offensive rebounds can be in the long run.

“Most of the games we’ve lost because the other team gets more offensive rebounds than us or even just [overall] rebounds, so we knew we needed players to step up big,” Johnson said. “Going to the basket and at least having two of us get there, we can get the feed off the rebounds and that’ll help us win games.

The other big point Fennelly focused on recently has been the team’s shot selection.

Along with making the easy baskets, a problem the team has encountered has been passing up open shots, something they’ve been working hard to fix.

“The term we use with our kids is never be surprised when you’re open,” Fennelly said. “I think there have been times where we were open and we weren’t quite ready to catch the ball and finish it.”

But Fennelly noted that both of these aspects of the game have been better, especially against Oklahoma. And junior guard Nicole “Kidd” Blaskowsky knows that if the Cyclones can keep their momentum going, then they should end up okay.

“I feel like going into this game we have a lot of momentum from beating Oklahoma and doing all that,” Blaskowsky said. “If we walk in how we’re supposed to and follow the game plan and trust our coaches, we’ll hopefully come back with a road win.”