After falling just short at TCU on Wednesday, the ISU women’s basketball team is looking to bounce back.

Iowa State (10-3, 1-1 Big 12) is set to host the No. 3 Texas Longhorns (13-0, 2-0 Big 12) at 11 a.m. on Jan. 10 at Hilton Coliseum.

The Longhorns, a team that ISU coach Bill Fennelly believes could win a national championship in the near future, have only won two of the last 11 games played in Hilton Coliseum. They also trail in the all-time series 15-11.

“I think the thing that jumps off the page about Texas is their size is incredible and they play really, really hard,” Fennelly said. “Karen [Aston] has done an amazing job there. They’re third in the country and undefeated for a reason. They’re a team that can legitimately win a national championship, I think.”

Fennelly isn’t exaggerating about the Longhorns’ size, either. Out of the 15 players on the Texas roster, six players top 6 feet, with three different post players at 6 feet 2 inches or taller. Their tallest starting player, Kelsey Lang, is 6 feet 5 inches and averaging 12.4 points per game, one of the best on the team.

“You’ve got to get ready to compete,” Fennelly said. “I think the biggest thing right off the bat is can we find a way to score against their defense, and can we rebound? They’re going to keep throwing big bodies at the rim at us and we’re going to have to gang rebound, and everyone is going to have to be ready to get your nose bloody a little bit and go get the ball.”

Guard Nicole Blaskowsky said one of the biggest factors in this Big 12 matchup will come from the crowd, and that they plan to feed off of the energy Hilton will provide.

“We felt it during K-State, for sure at the end when the crowd got hyped,” Blaskowsky said. “It gives us excitement and gets us ready to go. I think that when they’re in it, we have no other choice but to be in it just as much as they are. They deserve our best and we’re going to give them our best.”

In the team’s recent loss to TCU, senior guard Nikki Moody fouled out of the game with over six minutes left. Fennelly knows that keeping Moody in the game is going to be important, especially in late game situations.

“We’ve got to do a better job, and she’s got to do a better job of staying out of foul trouble,” Fennelly said. “We’ve got to figure out ways to do that better than we have been doing it. Hopefully tomorrow [her minutes] will be in the 30-some, so that would be a lot better.”

Moody, however, doesn’t plan on taking her foot off the gas anytime soon, saying she will be just as aggressive as she has been in the past.

“I have to stay on the floor,” Moody said. “I have to pick and choose which fouls I can take and which ones I just have to let go. I’m still going to be aggressive, I’m still going to attack the ball, but I just have to be smarter with what I do.”

When game time comes on Saturday, Blaskowsky knows that the best way to come out on top is for them to stick together.

“I’m going to go out there and get it,” Blaskowsky said. “They’re going to be strong, they’re going to be aggressive. We’re just going to have to stick together as a team … they’re a beatable team, but it’s going to be a matter of who wants it.”