It might have been senior night, but a freshman stole the show. Freshman Stacey Barr’s career-high 23 points propelled the Vandals to a 69-50 senior day victory against Hawaii Saturday in Cowan Spectrum. With the win, Idaho clinched the No. 4 seed in the WAC tournament March 8 to 12 at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas.
Seniors Keri Arendse, Adrie Shiels and Ganeaya Rogers were honored before the game and walked out of Cowan Spectrum for the last time with a win. Arendse said it is an ideal way to go out.
“Amazing,” Arendse said. “Our whole team came out tonight and played their hearts out. It’s awesome.”
Coming into the week the Vandals were No. 6 in the WAC and had to win both remaining games — combined with two losses from Hawaii or San Jose State — to advance higher in the standings. Idaho got what it needed and enters the tournament as the No. 4 seed to play San Jose State. The Vandals beat the Spartans in both meetings this season.
Idaho coach Jon Newlee said he is thrilled with the way his team performed at the end of the regular season.
“We knew how important these last two games at home were going to be coming into it and what we had to get done,” Newlee said. “I’m so proud of our players coming and bringing it.”
The game began with four lead changes and four ties, but the Vandals had other plans. Halfway through the half the Vandals went on a 27-2 run sparked by four-straight 3-point makes from Barr. Defensively, Idaho held the Rainbow Wahine to four points in the last seven minutes of the half and took a 46-21 lead into the locker room, matching the team’s season-high for points in a half. Barr finished the half with 16.
“To see her (Barr) come out and light it up like that gets everyone jacked up,” Newlee said. “She plays hard and that’s what I love about her. She just plays hard at both ends.”
The Rainbow Wahine didn’t go down easily in the second half. Hawaii started the half on a 9-0 run and continued to gain ground as the clock ticked down. Hawaii got as close as 15, but toward the end, Idaho clamped down and coasted to victory.
Newlee said his team wasn’t as focused in the second as it was in the first, but was happy with the way it ended the game.
“At this level you have to play hard every minute and I think we lost our focus and intensity during those runs, but I thought we were able to ride the ship,” Newlee said. “We talked about it a little bit in some of those timeouts that we have to get it together, that we have to play hard and it was a long way from over.”
Barr led all scorers with 23 points, sophomore Alyssa Charlston checked in with 15 and freshman Krissy Karr rounded out the Vandals in double figures with 13. Idaho made a season-high 11 3-pointers in the game.
After a season-low six turnovers Thursday, the Vandals continued to protect the ball with only 11 turnovers against Hawaii.
Newlee said his team’s defensive performance was the key to its win.
“It was our defense and our rebounding,” Newlee said. ” … It was one and done for them and then for us to execute as well as we did offensively, that’s where that lead just ballooned in the first half.”
The next stop for Idaho is Las Vegas for the WAC tournament where it faces San Jose State in the first round. The game is at 8:30 p.m. Wednesday.
Barr said the team is confident.
“It’s been great to come off two wins in a row,” Barr said. “It’s really going to help us get momentum going into the tournament and hopefully we can continue.”