CYber CYd With Alison Lacey

The Cyclone women's basketball team is back hard at work as official practice begins this week. In order to give Cyclone fans an inside look at the Iowa State women's basketball team, head coach Bill Fennelly and members of the ISU team will be posting a weekly blog at cyclones.com on Tuesday of each week throughout the school year.

Fans will have a chance to hear directly from Coach Fennelly throughout the season about how practice is going, how the team is doing during the season, and what he sees as the staples of the ISU women's basketball program. Players will talk to you each week about their perspective of school life, practices, games, and the daily hurdles of being a Division I student-athlete.

Junior Alison Lacey writes to you from her hometown of Canberra, Australia. "Aus" is home for her sister's wedding as the team begins official practice this week. Find out what a trip to Australia is like and what she is doing while she is gone. Check back next week to hear from Coach Fennelly as he talks about the first few days of official team practice.

CYber CYd With Alison Lacey

Hello Cyclone Fans!

I am writing to you from my home in Canberra, Australia! My brother, Mark, and I left Des Moines on Oct. 8, and flew to Denver, Colo. This was a two and a half hour flight which I spent sleeping while a child kicked the back of my chair the entire time!

We then flew from Denver to Los Angeles. This again was a two and a half hour flight which I spent sleeping minus the chair-kicking kid. Once we arrived at LAX we had a seven-hour layover. We spent this time wandering the terminal, going into every store, attempting to do homework and finally resorted to people watching. Finally at 10:30 p.m. we boarded our plane and looked forward to a 16-hour flight to Sydney, Australia!

The flight was fully booked and very cramped. We were delayed leaving. The air hostess announced ?the plane is missing a part and maintenance will be there shortly to add the missing part, but don't worry we will be in the air shortly!' (Not exactly what I want to hear before we take off!) I am lucky enough to have another kid sitting behind me and to my delight he also found joy in kicking the back of my chair. I managed to fall asleep before take off, waking up occasionally with neck, back, and hip aches. It's hard to get comfortable in such a small space!

I woke up with four hours left in my flight, and I watched Baby Mama. It reminded me of our team as we all love this movie. This is my second time leaving the USA since I arrived at Iowa State. Even though I will be away for two weeks, I am sad to leave and I will miss my friends, teammates and yes even my coaches.

My brother, however, is always next to me when I travel and is quick to tell me to suck it up and stop acting like a girl. We touched down in Sydney and rushed to make our connecting flight to my hometown of Canberra! The airport was busy and the lines were huge, and we of course missed our connecting flight. While Mark and I were waiting for the next available flight we bought our favourite candy bars, sat down, and listened to all the Australian accents and realized how much we have lost ours!

After our three hour wait we finally boarded our last plane to Canberra. It had been a long day travelling. We left at 12 p.m., Oct. 8, and arrived in Canberra at 10 p.m., Oct. 9, Ames time. We actually arrived in Canberra on Oct. 10 at 2 p.m. Australian time.

You may be wondering why I am travelling home in the middle of October, a week before official practice begins?! My only sister, Melissa, is getting married on Oct. 18, to her fianc? Luke! Not the most perfect timing, but as Coach Fennelly always says, ?family comes first,' and I am excited to celebrate this day with friends and family. I am thrilled to be maid of honor and am nervously working on my speech for the reception!

I am settling in at home and am busy helping my sister. I also have to find time to workout, get treatment on my hip, and most importantly finish homework! I am constantly thinking of my teammates in Ames and wondering what they are doing. I wish I could be there for the first day of practice. Being out with my hip injury has made me frustrated and very anxious to get back into playing! Hopefully my transition back into practice will be smooth, while the countdown is on for our first game. I am excited to see how ready our team will be for the tough schedule that lies ahead!

Alison Lacey

Players Mentioned

Alison Lacey

Alison Lacey

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