It was somewhat of a double whammy for the ISU women’s basketball team during the past few days.

The Cyclones were slated to be in Austin, Texas, on Tuesday to prepare for a Wednesday night game against Texas. The team arrived six hours late, and then proceeded to take a 21-point loss to No. 4 Texas the next night.

But the problems wouldn’t end with the loss. 

When Iowa State went to board its flight that night, it was informed the plane had mechanical problems, keeping the team in Austin for the rest of the night.

The team scrambled to find a hotel. The next day, they were told to get on a plane at noon, but that plane also had problems. Finally, at about 8 p.m. Thursday, the Cyclones boarded a plane and returned to Ames around midnight.

“[The team] handled it fine,” said ISU coach Bill Fennelly. “It’s just unfortunate, but there’s nothing you can do about it. You have no control over the airplanes. The ironic thing about it is the plane that they could not use to take us back to Ames ended up bring us back to Ames. They must have fixed it, I hope.”

Luckily for the team, the University of Texas opened up its basketball practice facility on Thursday so the Cyclones could still hold a practice while waiting for a ride back.

Even though it was a long and frustrating wait, the Cyclones still tried to make the most of it.

Guard Jadda Buckley and some other teammates used the extra night to catch up on watching Netflix.

“It was an interesting 24 hours for this team, but we made the best of it and we actually had some good memories come out of it,” Buckley said. “It ended up being fine, but we got a lot of Netflix-watching in. That’s always a plus.”

For some of the players, though, it wasn’t as fun.

“[It was] rough and long,” said guard Seanna Johnson. “I’ve never wanted to be back in Ames so bad. I think we adjusted. I think we handled it well.”

Iowa State now has one more day to prepare for Kansas at 7 p.m. Saturday in Ames. 

“We also had a loss in the middle of [of the road trip],” Fennelly said. “Not my favorite road trip.”