It just might be a good omen for Las Vegas.
The Idaho women traveled to a warm weather climate Saturday afternoon with an undefeated record against conference foes away from home, and will come back to Moscow with that being the status quo.
The Vandals took down Grand Canyon 68-54 in Pheonix to move to 12-1 in Western Athletic Conference play, finishing its conference road schedule undefeated at 8-0.
Something had to give with Grand Canyon also being undefeated at home, but Idaho’s dominant second half gave it the edge.
“We knew about their streak, we talked about ending their streak just like our streak got ended,” Idaho coach Jon Newlee said. “They were just ready to play tonight, they were pumped up. We had a great start in the second half.”
With only a five-point lead at the half there was a fear that Grand Canyon would make it a tight game, like Idaho’s 58-54 win over Grand Canyon in Moscow earlier in the season.
Instead, the Vandals opened the second half on an 8-0 run and for the remaining 15 minutes a win was hardly ever in question.
Tenacious defense had a lot to do with it. Grand Canyon only shot 31-percent from the field and only hit 5 3-point shots.
“Aggression was the key tonight, we didn’t sit back,” Newlee said.
A welcome performance for Idaho was that of senior Alyssa Charlston. The Vandals post scored 17 points, missing only three shots. She had been in a relative slump prior to the trip to Phoenix, but finishing around the rim wasn’t a problem for her this time around.
“Yeah, that’s the Alyssa we know. She was in a little slump,” Newlee said. “They’re undersized in the post, I said they can’t guard you Alyssa. They really don’t have an answer for her when she’s playing like she can play.”
That breakout is welcome for Idaho, who will look to start stringing together consistency at home. Idaho has won seven of its eight conference road games by double-digits, an average margin of victory of 26 points on the road. That kind of dominance at home has been hard to find. Idaho is 4-1 at home in conference play, with only two of those wins coming by double-digits.
Sitting at 12-1, the Vandals’ magic number to clinch the conference regular season title is two (the combination of Idaho wins and second-place Bakersfield losses).
Consistency is the key for Newlee as rivals Seattle head to Moscow on March 1.
“I don’t think we matched their intensity in the paint on the defensive end and that’s something we’ll talk about before Seattle because that’s going to be an absolute war,” Newlee said.