Missouri women's basketball to take on Iowa State

COLUMBIA — Robin Pingeton is not looking to make comparisons.

Despite some similarities to Missouri’s next opponent Iowa State, the second year Missouri women’s basketball coach does not think the two teams should be compared.

“Bill Fennelly (Iowa State coach) has been there for 17 years, I think,” said Pingeton, as assistant coach under Fennelly from 2000 to 2003. “There is a tradition. They are an NCAA tournament team. You’ve got upperclassmen that have been there, done that. You got experienced leaders. You got 10,000 people at your home games ... It's apples and oranges, I don’t know that you can really compare it.”

Iowa State, like the Tigers, lost their first five conference games of the season. Since then, however, the Cyclones have been able to reverse their fortunes, winning four out of their past five games, including two in a row against conference rivals Oklahoma State and Texas putting them in a three-way tie for sixth place in the Big 12.

The Tigers, however, will be trying to put an end to their 10-game losing streak, the longest steak the Tigers have suffered since the 2009-10 team lost 10 straight.

Pingeton said that her team, filled with youth and inexperience, should not be measured by the same standards that other teams in the “best conference in the country” are measured.

“I’ve told our players from day one that we’re not at a point where we can evaluate ourselves on that scoreboard or by the win-loss column,” Pingeton said. “It’s just not going to happen that quick in this league.”

“It’s not easy. Look at programs within our conference right now. Their staffs have been in place, and they’ve had some postseason success, and it's hard for them right now. So just imagine where we’re at.”

Instead of rattling off winning streaks, Pingeton is coaching her team to take small steps toward success. She said she wants her team to take advantage of all of the opportunities they have left this season to improve.

That next opportunity will come on Wednesday night at Mizzou Arena against Iowa State.

Iowa State is the only remaining Big-12 team Missouri (10-11, 0-10 Big 12) has yet to play, though their final meeting last season resulted in a 49-48 Missouri victory.

Iowa State (13-8, 4-6 Big 12) will is led by 6-foot-2 junior forward Chelsea Poppens. The reigning Big 12 Player of the Week has been outstanding recently, putting up double-doubles in her past two games and averaging 22 points and 11 rebounds in her past four.

The 7 p.m. game will be televised live by local cable provider Mediacom on channel MC22.