The Idaho women’s basketball team came into this year as one of the youngest teams in the conference, but are starting to show they’re a talented bunch, which was clearly demonstrated last week when the Vandals walked away with a pair of road wins.
The Vandals have now won two in a row and three of their last four. While the record may not show it, this is a team that will be dangerous when it’s all said and done. The hard non-conference season seems to be paying off as the WAC wins are starting to pile up.
The Vandals beat Denver last Thursday 68-60 in a come-from-behind victory and followed it up with a 57-51 win over New Mexico State on Saturday. The wins put Idaho in a tie for second place in the conference with Louisiana Tech. Seattle U. remains atop the conference standing with a perfect 5-0 WAC record thus far.
A big reason for Idaho’s early success has been shooting the long ball. Idaho leads the conference in 3-pointers and hit a combined 38 3-pointers in the last four games. While they only hit four in the last game against New Mexico State, Idaho has shown it has multiple players who are threats from long range and it’s paid dividends so far.
Another thing that has helped Idaho to this point is rebounding. Idaho has the most offensive rebounds in the conference and the fifth most defensive rebounds. The Vandals’ ability to own the boards has limited their opponents’ second chance shots, but have created opportunities for themselves in the process.
The young players have stepped up for Idaho so far this season. Freshman Christina Salvatore has been lights out from 3-point range while sophomore Stacey Barr has picked up where she left off last season with stellar shooting and hustle. Freshman Ali Forde has also contributed in a big way on the defensive and rebounding sides of things.
One of the problems the Vandals will have to address as the season progresses is losing momentum. Multiple times this season the Vandals have gone on runs, only to give up a big run from their opponent right after. This has translated into losing games late in the fourth quarter more than once.
The other issue for Idaho is turnovers. The Vandals have had stretches where they’ve taken care of the ball well, but haven’t been able to do it on a consistent basis. This was demonstrated on Saturday when the Vandals turned the ball over 17 times against New Mexico State.
Overall, the Vandals are looking better and the recent successful road trip goes to show how far this team has come in a short amount of time, but there’s still a lot that needs to be addressed if they’re going to be contenders at the end.
Kevin Bingaman can be reached at [email protected]