Practices were different this week for the Colorado women’s basketball team.

But the change in practice wasn’t due to CU’s 84-77 double overtime loss to Iowa State on Sunday that snapped an 11-game win streak.

The focus was altered this week because of tonight’s opponent — Texas A&M — which has become famous in the Big 12 for its pressure defense ever since Gary Blair became coach five years ago.

The No. 25 Buffs (12-3, 1-1) face the No. 19 Aggies (12-4, 0-2) at 7 p.m. in the Coors Events Center.

“Most times when you prepare for a team, you work on your defense to know what you’re going to face from the opposing team offensively,” CU senior Jackie McFarland said. “For A&M, we’re working on options we don’t normally work on — what to do when the pass is denied, when you can’t get the ball to an open player, setting more screens and what-not.”

It’s easy to see why.

The Buffs turned the ball over 26 times against Texas A&M last year in losing 62-45 in the Big 12 tournament quarterfinals.

In the span of four days, CU will go from playing an Iowa State team that relies heavily on zone defense to playing an A&M team that pressures the ball from the time a player tries to make an in-bounds pass.

There was no time for the Buffs to mope around about their home loss Sunday.

“We were forced to get over it because of the quick turnaround,” CU senior Susie Powers said. “It’s kind of a relief, in a way, to not have to think about the loss. We have to put it behind us. We have to go focus on this next battle.”

Tonight’s game will be a matchup of two of the better point guards, statistically, in the Big 12.

Aggies senior A’Quonesia Franklin has led the league in assist-to-turnover ratio the past three years.

Powers leads the league in that category this year.

“That will be a major personal focus for me coming into this game to take care of the ball because she is a great defender,” Powers said. “I will take it as a personal emphasis on defense, too, and really guard her — get down and frustrate her on the offensive end to try and get as many steals as I can.”

The Buffs have other concerns, as well.

The Aggies feature the league’s fourth-leading scorer in junior guard Takia Starks (17.3 ppg) and one of the better all-around players in junior guard/forward Danielle Gant.

Colorado coach Kathy McConnell-Miller remembers watching Gant play in high school when McConnell-Miller was coaching at Tulsa and Gant was playing in Oklahoma City.

“She’s not necessarily a big, strong imposing player on the block,” McConnell-Miller said, “but she can do what a big, strong, talented post player can do with size.”