Canceled flights to Las Vegas ground Saint Vincent women's basketball team

The Saint Vincent women’s basketball team was set for a road trip west for a holiday tournament, but the Bearcats — and their plans — were grounded at the last minute.

“The trip was a nightmare,” coach Jimmy Petruska said. “It was a mess from the start.”

The Bearcats (7-3) were scheduled to play games Wednesday and Thursday at the D3Hoops.com Classic in Las Vegas.

But before long, they did a U-turn back to Latrobe.

They didn’t get to see the City of Second Chances, nor did they get one.

Petruska said he learned around 1 a.m. Monday the team’s connecting flight from Chicago to Las Vegas was canceled because of winter weather. The flight from Pittsburgh to Chicago, however, was still a go.

So, the team left campus around 2:30 a.m. Monday and arrived at Pittsburgh International Airport around 3:45.

After checking in and waiting in line for nearly two hours, though, the news came in that their initial flight also was canceled.

A heavy dose of winter wreaked havoc on airlines all over the country. According to FlightAware.com, a total of 4,002 flights within, into or out of the U.S. were canceled Monday. Another 9,500-plus were delayed.

“We sent everyone home that morning,” Petruska said. “We are scheduled to practice on (Wednesday, Thursday and Friday). We have some activities planned to promote the team bonding experience we would have received from this trip. We are not making up the lost games, unfortunately.”

Petruska said his team has felt somewhat cursed over the last two-plus years.

The last time Saint Vincent went on an out-of-state trip was in 2019-20, to Las Vegas, just before the pandemic gained a foothold on the country and the sports world.

“We have had games canceled, called off, tournaments called off last year and this year,” he said. “Last year, we had a six-week layoff due to covid in the middle of our season.”

The tournament in Las Vegas would have been a welcome getaway, the coach said.

“I feel horrible for our seniors,” he said. “They have patiently waited for this trip and experience. They worked hard to prepare for this trip and fundraised extensively for it.”

Still, Petruska said his players handled the adversity with professionalism.

“I am blown away by how the players handled and conducted themselves during the craziness on the 26th,” he said. “They were not negative, had good attitudes and showed a ton of maturity and understanding. That is one of the major components within our program that we try to instill and teach our players: how to respond to situations that are outside of our control.

“We as a staff believe this will serve them a lifetime.”

SVC returns to game action Jan. 3 at home against Thiel in a Presidents’ Athletic Conference matchup.