The Connolly Center had been a house of horrors for Jon Newlee and the Idaho women’s basketball team. The Vandals, under Newlee, had yet to win on Capitol Hill.
Seattle U | Courtesy
Idaho’s Maren Austgulen, left, and Alyssa Charlston attempt to block a Seattle U player in Idaho’s 77-59 victory Saturday in Seattle. The Vandals moved to 15-7 and 8-0 in the WAC with the win.
On Saturday, Idaho turned the tides in a major way.
All five Idaho starters scored in double digits, Stacey Barr notched her eighth double-double of the season and the Idaho women’s basketball team kept its unbeaten streak alive with a 77-59 victory over Western Athletic Conference rival Seattle U.
“Hats off to Idaho,” Seattle U coach Joan Bonvicini said. “I thought they started well and then really capitalized on our mistakes.”
Idaho never trailed and led by as many as 21 points, as the Vandals asserted their dominance in WAC play, opening up a three-game gap between them and the defending regular-season champions, who dropped their third conference game.
The Redhawks swept the Vandals during conference play a season ago, beating Idaho by a combined seven points, before the Vandals one-upped Seattle in the 2013 WAC Tournament Championship.
Still, a win during the regular season was long awaited for Newlee and company.
“We have not come away with a ‘W’ here in the last couple of years,” Newlee said. “I thought we did a great job defensively. The game plan was great again. (Assistant) Jordan (Green) had us ready to go.”
The Vandals held Seattle to a 29 percent shooting and held 2013 WAC Player of the Year Kacie Sowell to 11 points.
Idaho played a chunk of the second half without post Ali Forde, and the Redhawks began to chip away at the Vandal lead, cutting it down to 11 points with 8:27 to play. The Vandals never faltered, though, as a Christina Salvatore 3-pointer halted the Seattle run.
The visitors’ momentum was also triggered by 16 Seattle U turnovers. Idaho turned the ball over just nine times.
“I just never thought our intensity or our pace was where I wanted it to be,” Bonvicini said. “I felt like we were a little slow, not quick enough, and we didn’t finish well so we were playing catch up the entire game.”
Salvatore, Idaho’s all-time leader in 3-pointers made in a season, was 0-for-7 from beyond the arc against Grand Canyon. The sophomore rebounded in a big way, netting three of her nine 3-point attempts Saturday.
“We had stretches where offensively we got a little stagnant, but I thought we kept our attack mentality and did a good job,” Newlee said.
Barr’s double-double came nine minutes into the second half and the junior finished with 25 points and 12 rebounds. The Melbourne, Australia native was 6-of-9 from the free-throw line.
Alyssa Charlston had 15 points for Idaho, despite going 6-of-13 from the charity stripe. Ali Forde, who played much of the second half with four fouls, closed in on a double-double but fell short with 10 points and eight rebounds.
Idaho, now 8-0 in WAC play, controls its own destiny as far as the regular-season title goes. Cal State-Bakersfield checks in at second with a 6-2 mark. The Vandals thumped the Roadrunners 96-69 on Jan. 18 in California.
Idaho’s three-game road trip continues when the Vandals visit New Mexico State Thursday. The Aggies couldn’t keep pace with the Vandals in a Jan. 11 Cowan Spectrum contest, when Idaho won 79-51.
Theo Lawson can be reached at [email protected]