After a week off, Iowa State women's basketball returns to action with trip to Kansas

AMES – Even after their game against Texas Christian, scheduled for Jan. 20, was canceled, the Iowa State women’s basketball team took the court that day.

The Cyclones (12-5, 6-1 Big 12), who didn’t want to go a week without a game, showed up to Hilton Coliseum, and with only a few family members watching, scrimmaged their male scout team.

“It was very serious, very serious,” said Iowa State freshman Audi Crooks. “There was a lot of trash-talking going on. Our scout guys almost pulled out the win but hey, we got it done.”

The Cyclones are hoping that game was enough to get them through an unexpected bump in the road in the middle of the season. They’ll find out if it did Wednesday night when they play at Kansas (9-9, 2-5 Big 12) at 6:30 p.m. The game will be the first official contest for Iowa State since losing at Texas Tech on Jan. 17.

“It was a good day for us,” Iowa State point guard Emily Ryan said. “We showed up the way we needed to mentally. We kind of tried to treat it like a game.”

Iowa State scrambled to adjust its schedule after its home contest with TCU was canceled due to the Horned Frogs not having enough players. The cancellation gave Iowa State a victory in the Big 12 Conference standings but not in the overall records for the season. While it helped in their quest for a conference crowd, it took them out of any sort of weekly rhythm they were in.

More: Iowa State women's basketball game against TCU canceled due to lack of players for Horned Frogs

“It changed a lot,” said Iowa State coach Bill Fennelly. “Obviously when you’re playing basketball, you’re always looking forward to the next game and obviously we lost a game.”

Fennelly tried to make the most of the lost opportunity, though. He turned Friday into a scout day for the Cyclones and then scheduled the scrimmage early the next day in a nearly empty Hilton Coliseum.

The coach tried to replicate a gameday experience as much as possible. There were even some fans watching. Freshman Addy Brown’s dad, who had come to town to watch her play, and some spouses of the coaching staff, watched the game.

Ryan said it was a huge help.

“Having a whole week in between games is a long time, especially in the middle of the season,” Ryan said. “Just being able to replicate that and just bringing the intensity and just have a lot more energy and be able to bring that for a practice or in this game, a scrimmage, is something that is important to utilize. The more that you can practice that, the more you’re able to replicate that in a game.”

After the scrimmage, the players gathered with fans to watch the Cyclones men’s basketball team’s contest against TCU as part of an event put on by the We Will Collective. Even though the day didn’t result in a game that counted, it still turned out to be a win.

“We had a good day,” Crooks said.

Staying in that rhythm is as important as ever for the Cyclones, who have nearly reached the midway point of the Big 12 schedule, and still, to the surprise of many, sit near the top of the conference standings.

Fennelly believes the Cyclones emerged from the unusual week in a good position.

“I think overall we’re in a good spot and excited for what’s still to come,” Fennelly said.

This week was already going to be challenging enough, with road games at Kansas on Wednesday and at No. 23 West Virginia on Saturday. The two contests could go a long way toward impacting Iowa State’s chase for the conference crown. It’s certainly familiar territory for the Cyclones, who knocked off West Virginia and Baylor all in the same week earlier this month.

“It’s fun to be in this position and fun to see what this group can do,” Fennelly said.

Tommy Birch, the Register's sports enterprise and features reporter, has been working at the newspaper since 2008. He's the 2018, 2020 and 2023 Iowa Sportswriter of the Year. Reach him at tbirch@dmreg.com or 515-284-8468

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa State women's basketball set to return to action against Kansas