The Vandal women’s basketball team hasn’t tasted victory since Dec. 29. Idaho has dropped seven games in a row, but will attempt to get back on track against Utah State at 5:30 p.m. Saturday in the Cowan Spectrum.
It’s been a tough month for Idaho (5-15, 0-4 WAC). The young squad has had a number of heartbreaking losses, most recently to Nevada by just six points. But the team will try to close out its home-stand with a win and get the season turned around.
Idaho assistant coach Jordan Green said coming back against Nevada shows the team still has heart.
“It was a good comeback, but we would have liked to have seen that effort for the full 40 minutes of the game,” Green said. “It shows they’re not giving up, which is good.”
Defeating Utah State won’t be an easy task. The Aggies (12-6, 3-1 WAC) are currently in second place in the conference, nipping at the heels of Fresno State, and have won seven of their last eight games. Idaho holds a 12-8 all-time series lead over the Aggies, but lost both games last season. The Aggies are 2-0 playing WAC teams on the road this season.
Green said he expects a lot of different looks out of the Aggies.
“They’re a very good team,” Green said. “They’ve got good guard play, good post play. Defensively, they’re very aggressive. They have a number of defenses they’ll probably throw at us, but we’re trying to prepare for them.”
Idaho will have to watch for Utah State’s junior guard Devyn Christensen, who has been dominating in recent weeks. Since WAC play started, she’s averaged 19 points per game, hitting more than 60 percent of her shots. Along with Christensen, the Aggies have had five different players lead them in scoring this season, making every player a threat.
The Aggies are off to their best start since joining the WAC, due in a large part to shooting. The Aggies are No. 10 in the nation in free-throw percentage, at 78 percent, and No. 14 in 3-point percentage at 37.5 percent.
Idaho has struggled to put all the pieces together this year, and it can’t afford any lapses against Utah State. The Vandals will need to play well the entire game if they want to end the losing streak here. Green said it’s all about coming out and playing hard every day.
“The wins aren’t coming right now, but we are getting better,” Green said. “The attitude is ‘let’s improve every day and when the games come, let’s just play as hard as we can and hopefully we’ll get that win.'”
The Vandals travel to Hawaii and San Jose State next week.