Coach Fennelly tells Cyclones to enjoy win, prepare for next challenge

AMES - Iowa State figured out just how high the highs and how low the lows could get last week. A loss to TCU on the road followed by a win against then-No. 3 Texas were as polar opposites as it gets, so the message Coach Bill Fennelly gave his team on Saturday was to enjoy the win.

'I think in sports, or a lot of things in life, it's always about what's next,” Fennelly said. 'And you do all this work and don't get to enjoy that kind of moment.”

And as sweet as that moment was for the Cyclones (11-3, 2-1), they will have perhaps an even bigger opportunity when they take on No. 3 Baylor on Tuesday in Waco, Texas. Players and coaches know it's a tall order against the Lady Bears (14-1, 3-0), but a lot can be taken away from a win against the Longhorns.

'Our seniors, they stepped up a lot and I think our confidence has skyrocketed a lot, especially heading into Baylor ... a great team,” sophomore Seanna Johnson said. 'I think all of us contributed and we're all good and focused.”

Tuesday's game will be the third Big 12 game in seven days for Iowa State, so Fennelly knows the importance of managing players' workloads in practice right now. The Cyclones will be without sophomore Jadda Buckley, who will get an MRI on her injured foot on Wednesday.

Iowa State has never defeated top-three opponents in back-to-back games and has never beaten a top-three team on the road. The Cyclones have also not won in Waco since 1997, and have not beaten the Lady Bears since 2010.

A win, Fennelly said, would be monumental.

'We haven't had a lot of success down there for a lot of reasons,” Fennelly said. 'Brittney Griner and Odyssey Sims had something to do with it. (Coach) Kim Mulkey has built a monster program and they're the same again. Different people, but it's still Baylor basketball.”

Baylor prides itself on aggressiveness, defense and rebounding and will put Iowa State's smaller lineup to the test. But with the ups and downs of last week, the Cyclones have some experience in staying levelheaded through adversity.

'To have a team like this that's been facing adversity, Jadda's been out, post players still have to step up and have been trying to figure our their roles,” Nicole 'Kidd” Blaskowsky said. 'Us guards have just been trying to stay motivated and work on our game.”