As much as the players wish they could forget what happened earlier this season when they first squared off against TCU, ISU coach Bill Fennelly will not let that happen.

Players were greeted at the Jan. 19 practice at Hilton Coliseum with the scoreboard reading TCU 86, Iowa State 84 — a constant reminder of the Cyclones’ second half collapse and TCU’s upset victory against the Cyclones two weeks ago.

“When we were warming up [Fennelly] said, ‘If you ever don’t feel motivated, look at the scoreboard,’ and its true,” said guard Nicole “Kidd” Blaskowsky. “When you get in a game like that, having the lead that we had and we end up getting upset … it’s not happening here. We have business that we need to take care of.”

In the two teams’ first matchup this season, the Cyclones built up a 44-21 halftime lead and appeared to be cruising towards a dominating victory. The Horned Frogs had a different idea as they stormed all the way back from the 23-point deficit and won on layup with 1.6 seconds remaining.

“They’re a team that has picked a style that’s a little unique in our league and it’s press like crazy and see what happens,” Fennelly said.

The Cyclones were plagued by both injury and foul trouble with their key ball handlers, which opened the door for TCU’s press to wreak havoc.

Point guard Jadda Buckley was struggling with a foot injury and guard Nikki Moody only played 15 minutes due to foul trouble. TCU’s press forced a few turnovers, turned those into a few baskets and relinquished momentum. Once the ball got rolling for TCU, there was no stopping it.

“Everything that could have gone wrong did go wrong,” Fennelly said.

Moody was forced to watch much of the game from the bench due to her foul trouble. Without her on the court, the Cyclones struggled to break the press and were never able to get back to their first-half form.

“It was a struggle,” Moody said. “Especially knowing that I can’t go out and help my teammates.”

For the rematch, Moody hopes to remain on the court as much as possible with Buckley being out for the foreseeable future due to her lingering injury.

If Moody cannot avoid foul trouble, the Cyclones will be relying on true freshman Nakiah Bell, who only averages 12 minutes a game, to break TCU’s press alongside Blaskowsky, who is more of a shooter than a ball-handler.

“I just think we panicked,” Blaskowsky said of their press break struggles against TCU.

That makes for an easy solution for the Cyclones when they see TCU’s press this time around.

“We just have to relax more, you know, stop making bad turnovers and just play the way we know how to play, don’t play to their level,” Blaskowsky said. “We have to be in control of the game offensively and when they start pressing us we can’t panic, we just need to relax and move the ball up the floor like we know how to.”

That, of course, is easier said than done. The Cyclones will take on the Horned Frogs at 7 p.m. Jan. 21 at Hilton Coliseum.