Northern Colorado hot beyond the arc, beat Idaho women
The welcome confines of the Cowan Spectrum and three-straight home games await the Idaho women’s basketball team this week after a 0-2 road trip.
File Photo by Jose Benedeck | Argonaut
Sophomore point guard Karlee Wilson practices Nov. 13 at Memorial Gym.
Saturday, the Vandals fell 70-52 at Northern Colorado, as the Bears went 10-of-18 from beyond the arc.
“I have not seen a team come out and shoot 3s like that since our days of playing at Fresno State,” Idaho coach Jon Newlee said. “To see so many different players hit the 3s was the crazy part. Hats off to them. They had shots and they knocked them down.”
Four early 3-pointers put Northern Colorado up 14-3 seven minutes into the game. Idaho struggled to come back from the early deficit in the first half and headed into halftime down 38-21. The Vandals came out better in the second half, but could not scrape back to within single digits of the Bears.
“I loved the start of our second half,” Newlee said. “We talked at half about what we wanted to do to get back in the game. We got right back in it. What has killed us on this trip has been our missed layups.”
Five different players hit shots from beyond the arc for Northern Colorado, while four players scored in double figures.
Junior guard Christina Salvatore led the Vandals with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Senior guard Stacey Barr also added 14 points for the Vandals.
“Crazy people can call me, but I feel like we have a championship team here,” Newlee said. “I saw championship heart today. We have had to start five of our first seven conference games on the road, and that is something people have to remember.”
Idaho (8-10, 2-5 Big Sky) played eight of its last 11 games on the road, so the upcoming three-game home stretch gives the Vandals some much-needed rest from the travel. Idaho hosts Eastern Washington (11-7, 4-3) Saturday before playing Montana State (7-11, 1-6) Feb. 5 and Montana (13-5, 6-1) Feb. 7.
“We have had to start five of our first seven conference games on the road, and that is something people have to remember,” Newlee said. “It would have been easy to pack it in today and say ‘It just was not our day.’ I am proud of how we continued to battle (against the Bears).”
Stephan Wiebe can be reached at [email protected]