Jeff Becker | Courtesy
An emotional Alyssa Charlston, center, answers questions with teammate Ali Forde and coach Jon Newlee in the postgame press conference following Idaho’s 88-42 loss to Louisville in the NCAA Tournament on Sunday. Idaho made consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances for the first time in school history.
For the first five minutes of the game, Idaho looked like it could be the first ever No. 14 seed to upset a No. 3 seed in the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament.
The Vandals held a 6-2 lead over the Louisville Cardinals with 15:28 remaining in the first half. Then the Cardinals started making shots and showing how they made it to the 2013 NCAA Championship game, as they routed the Vandals 88-42 Sunday in Iowa City.
“It’s a tough way to end what for us was a great season,” Idaho coach Jon Newlee said. “We talked about our goals of winning the regular season WAC title, winning the tourney title and getting back-to-back in the NCAA Tournament. The only goal we didn’t achieve was going further in the NCAA Tournament.”
Louisville (31-4) started the game shooting 0-of-7 from the court, allowing Idaho (25-9) to take an early lead. Sophomore post Ali Forde scored the first four points of the game and the first six points for Idaho. Then the Cardinals finally found their rhythm to go on an 8-0 run and garner a 10-6 lead over the Vandals.
Idaho bounced back with a 3-pointer by senior post Alyssa Charlston to bring the Vandals back within one point of the lead at 10-9. Following a jumper by Louisville’s Shoni Schimmel, junior WAC Player of the Year Stacey Barr made two free throws to bring Idaho back within one point again at the 12:11 mark.
That was as close as Idaho would get to regaining the lead.
Louisville extended its lead to 40-21 in the first half before routing the Vandals 48-21 in the second half for the 88-42 win. Despite their slow start, the Cardinals ended the game shooting 57.4 percent from the field, shooting 42.9 percent from the 3-point line and had five players score in double figures. In comparison, Idaho shot 35.4 percent from the field and a measly 22.2 percent from 3-point land — a usual strength for the Vandals.
“We did some very good things defensively that threw them out of rhythm,” Louisville coach Jeff Walz said. “But the way they shot the ball from the 3-point line tonight was not indicative of how they’ve been shooting the ball the entire year.”
Defensively, the Cardinals used a full-court press that helped force an uncharacteristic 18 Vandal turnovers. The Cardinals’ height — they have eight players 6-foot-1 or taller compared to Idaho’s three — also contributed to turnovers and tough shot attempts for Idaho.
“They put on a lot of pressure,” Forde said. “We handled it really well at the beginning of the game (but) drifted away from that towards the middle.”
Forde was a bright spot for Idaho and, possibly, a sign of what’s to come next season for the Vandals. The sophomore ended with a game-high 16 points and tied with Louisville’s Sara Hammond. She also had a team-high eight rebounds and two blocks.
“This experience is a great experience to have,” Forde said following the game. “Next year hopefully will be — like coach was saying earlier in the locker room — hopefully we’ll have a higher seed and be able to come out stronger.”
Barr, Idaho’s go-to scorer, had only four points on the day. She played most of the game, despite taking a hard hit to the head midway through the first half.
“At one point we thought she had a concussion,” Newlee said. “Her symptoms got worse as the game was going along. At one point I had to take her out, because I’m not sure she was aware where she was.”
The loss marked the last collegiate games for Idaho seniors Charlston and Addie Schivo. Charlston had 11 points, while Schivo didn’t score in nine minutes coming off the bench.
Charlston’s career ended with an Idaho record 130 consecutive games played. She played in every game over the past four seasons. Charlston also finished fifth all-time in scoring at Idaho with 1,587 career-points, fourth in blocks with 128 and fourth in rebounds with 855.
“Any last game is going to be emotional. But, wow, what a ride it’s been,” Charlston said. “It’s been incredible. I know that the girls behind me are going to take this program even higher than when I came here. They’ve got a powerful coaching staff to do it.”
Charlston is the only senior in Idaho’s starting five. Barr, Forde, Christina Salvatore and Connie Ballestero have eligibility remaining after starting in NCAA Tournament games for two straight seasons. The two consecutive appearances in the Big Dance are a first in Idaho program history.
Stephan Wiebe can be reached at [email protected]