Seeing Stacey Barr score 30 points in a game isn’t uncommon. Saturday’s 71-58 Idaho win over Eastern Washington was the third time she’s completed the feat this season.
It is uncommon, however, to see Barr getting medical attention on the sideline.
“Unfortunately, she was hit on that elbow bad,” Idaho coach Jon Newlee said. “They’ll stitch her up. She’s tough man … she’s like ‘I’ll just put a Band-Aid on it. I don’t want to mess around with it.'”
Barr played until the final buzzer despite being in obvious pain from an elbow injury she sustained in the second half. Idaho’s next game isn’t until Thursday, so Newlee expects Barr to be ready to play when Montana State visits the Cowan Spectrum, even if it means she has to wear an elbow sleeve.
The Vandals’ victory over the Eagles improved Idaho to 9-10 on the season and 3-5 in Big Sky Conference play. The 13-point win was a turnaround from a six-point Idaho loss to EWU back on Jan. 10.
“It just gives a lot of confidence knowing that even though they beat us once, we’re going to come back and beat you and may the best team win,” sophomore guard Karlee Wilson said. “It definitely boosts our confidence a lot. We have nothing to lose, so the pressure was on them — they beat us once so they were expected to beat us again, but we came out ready to play.”
The game was close in the first half. Idaho held a 30-27 lead at halftime thanks to a cross-court pass from junior guard Connie Ballestero that resulted in a last-second layup by junior post Ali Forde. Surprisingly, neither team had any free-throw attempts in the first half.
Idaho started the second half with a 3-pointer from junior guard Christina Salvatore and a follow up old-fashioned three-point play by Barr to gain momentum heading into the half.
The Eagles fought back within three points of Idaho with just under eight minutes left in the game thanks to 22 points from junior guard Hayley Hodgins, but tough Idaho defense the rest of the game allowed Idaho to pull away.
“I think we increased our defensive intensity from the first half,” Wilson said. “We took pride in our defense today, we executed our defensive plan very well, we got out to their shooters. Hayley Hodgins made some contested shots but that’s going to happen against a really good team.”
After the game, Newlee said he was particularly impressed with three items on Idaho’s stat line — rebounds, points in the paint and assists. Idaho outrebounded EWU 50 to 34, scored 32 points in the paint and had 17 assists on the night.
“One of our keys tonight was the rebounding,” he said. “If we’re scoring 32 points in the paint, we have a pretty good chance of winning. I love the 17 assists. We haven’t been close to that the last couple games, one because we’ve been missing some layups. I love those stats.”
Despite Idaho’s solid number of points in the paint, starting posts Brooke Reilly and Forde struggled inside for Idaho. The duo combined for six points shooting 3-of-13 from the floor.
Freshman post Geri McCorkell stepped up off the bench for the Vandals scoring 11 points while grabbing eight rebounds.
“Geri did step up nice and hit a couple of big shots, some free throws, rebounds the ball … I thought our team put her in a good position to finish,” Newlee said. “I was happy with Geri’s play tonight.”
In total, Idaho had 19 points off the bench compared to two for EWU.
The home win came after a winless road week for Idaho last week. The Vandals stay at home this week playing Montana State and Montana Thursday and Saturday respectively.
“It’s big, it’s big for us,” Newlee said of the win. “It definitely was a big game. We couldn’t afford to lose another one, especially at home. You gotta defend your home floor in this league. I know all too well.”
Stephan Wiebe can be reached at [email protected]