The ISU women’s basketball team had a chance to regain momentum in its season with a clean sweep in the Cancun Challenge on Thursday through Saturday, playing Texas State, No. 15 Duke and Idaho on consecutive days.  

But the warm weather and clear skies didn’t turn out to be all good for the Cyclones, as they dropped two of those three games against Duke and Idaho, and fell to 2-3 on the season — the program’s first losing record since midway through the 2005-06 season. 

After a loss to Drake on Nov. 15, Iowa State hasn’t been able to get back on its feet. ISU coach Bill Fennelly puts the brunt of the blame on himself. 

“This team is poorly coached right now, and it’s my fault,” Fennelly said on the Cyclone Network radio show. “I have to do a better job of figuring out ways to make it better. We will, but right now, it’s hard. First time in a long time people won’t speak too highly of us.”

Iowa State didn’t have much trouble in its first game, rolling over Texas State in an 83-61 victory, and looked primed for a fight against No. 15 Duke in the second game of the tournament. 

Early on in that game, it looked like a fight was brewing as the Cyclones took an early lead. But the Blue Devils proved to be too much. They jumped ahead and never looked back, coasting to an 86-48 victory. 

“That was the most physical team we have ever played, and we didn’t handle it at all,” Fennelly said. “We just couldn’t get anything going at all.” 

Fennelly mentioned the possibility of a few players battling illnesses in the game against Duke, and said it was going to be difficult to find players to go against Idaho. That included the loss of Bridget Carleton, who took a shot to the mouth against Duke and didn’t return against Idaho. 

The losses piled up, and it showed on the scoreboard against Idaho. The Cyclones dropped their final game of the Cancun Challenge, 97-65, finishing the tournament 1-2. 

ISU guard Seanna Johnson wasn’t part of the Cyclones’ struggles. She continued her strong start to the season, averaging 18.3 points, 9.7 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game in the tournament. Johnson also tallied two double-doubles on her way to being named to the All-Tournament team. 

Aside from Johnson, the only other bright spots were guard Jadda Buckley and forward Bryanna Fernstrom, who dropped 25 points in the tournament opener. 

“We need to find more ways to get more people involved on a game-to-game basis,” Fennelly said. 

As Iowa State now looks to the December part of its schedule, it sees a game against Northern Iowa on Wednesday and the annual CyHawk game on Dec. 11 in Ames. 

But there is a lot to do before those matchups for Fennelly and his squad. 

“It’s been a really disappointing start to the season,” Fennelly said. “We have a lot of work to do.”