If Stanford’s travel experiences in Kansas read as a low-budget sequel of “Planes, Trains and Automobiles,” know that the Cardinal were better able to "go with the flow” than Steve Martin’s Neal Page ever could.

The Cardinal are in Lexington preparing for their Sweet 16 game against Texas Friday. And they are performing the familiar juggling act of practices and class finals that long ago became the norm this time of year for the program.

But the plan was to be back at Stanford Tuesday and Wednesday before flying to Kentucky. That idea was scrapped when the team’s charter plane was stuck in Arkansas Monday night waiting for a part from Houston that never arrived.

The best case scenario? The plane might get to Manhattan by 1 a.m. Tuesday.

So, after huddling with various people, including the team’s captains, the decision was made to sleep over in Manhattan and fly straight to Lexington Tuesday.

“Kind of every step of the way it’s felt like something has happened, but you just have to deal with it,” said head coach Tara VanDerveer of the extended road trip. “I think we caught up on our sleep a little bit. We took yesterday (Tuesday) off … (and) had a nice dinner.”

“I think we’re better off the way we did it. Everyone else in our bracket played Sunday, we were the only Monday game (in the second round). We were a day behind to begin with.”

The team’s doctor, Geoffrey Abrams, approved of the change to the travel plan and the whole situation was declared a “net positive.”

Finals were pushed back a day so that players will be finishing their courses Wednesday and Thursday. Junior Kaylee Johnson said most of her teammates, including her, were finishing papers or had one final exam left. She said point guard Marta Sniezek had two finals to take Thursday.

With the sudden change in the academic schedule, enter team academic adviser Shannon Reader, who played at Gonzaga and is in her first year with Stanford.

“She was earning her pay,” VanDerveer said. “She was very busy and she has been great. We are so glad we have her.”

In the past, assistant coach Amy Tucker has had to help with testing logistics, but that wouldn’t have been possible this time.

Tucker and assistant coach Tempie Brown traveled back to Stanford, along with several other administrators, to, among other things, pick up the team’s alternate black uniforms, clear out Erica McCall’s dorm room and move cars that belonged to team members to new parking spots.

That experience is enough of a story on its own, but it wasn’t the only first for VanDerveer in her tournament travel experiences. The bus taking the team to Kansas State’s Bramlage Coliseum Monday for the game against the Wildcats broke down multiple times.

“I’m trying to think, ‘We’re going to be hiking it,’” she recalled. “When the bus first broke down we wouldn’t have been able to walk. When it broke the third or fourth time: ‘Well, we might be walking.’ We were kind of glad it could coast into the arena (parking). You could see it (the arena) in the distance, but that would take us a good 30-40 minutes to walk and carrying our stuff.”

Johnson saw the humor in the situation: “I thought it was funny. Really I thought it would be a nice warm-up.”

The Cardinal, who VanDerveer said make a habit of being at an away arena early, were on the court in plenty of time for their pre-game preparation. And when the game started the Cardinal showed the only thing that was going to slow them down from reaching Lexington was a rickety bus and broken plane.

The second round win was a “Code Red," a long-held tradition at Stanford -- which Stanford all-time great Jayne Appel reinforced when she visited the team before the tournament -- that energy in the tournament has to be full-go from the start.

“Of course every single game this could be our last game,” Johnson said. “I think that kind of was emphasized in the New Mexico State game when we realized this is real. We don’t have any time to wait … we can’t wait until the next game to play better, we can’t wait until our next practice. So, 'Code Red' puts an emphasis on the sense of urgency. I think you saw against Kansas State, we felt like a much better team.”

Stanford defeated Texas 71-59 on Nov. 14, which almost is as far removed from Friday's game as possible while still being in the same season. VanDerveer said both teams are very different in some aspects.

“They’re an extremely aggressive, athletic team with great size, excellent shooting and they have a fantastic player with (Brooke) McCarty. (Joyner) Holmes has really come on for them. They have a deep team, they have 10 people that average double minutes. They’re an excellent rebounding team and they force a lot of turnovers.

"I think our defense is a lot better (than in November). I think we’re rebounding better. Offensively, I think Alanna (Smith) is playing well. I think sometimes people on our team need to be reminded of the good things they do and focus. Britt (Brittany McPhee) had a great game -- she finished really strong against New Mexico State and came out and played really strong (against Kansas State). We’re really confident in Karlie (Samuelson) and what she does.”