Turnovers, 3-pointers hurt Vandals in weekend loss
The final stretch of the season features four out of the final six games at home for the Idaho women’s basketball team.
This is a welcome sight on the schedule for a team with some work to do to qualify for the Big Sky Tournament in March.
Thursday, the Vandals host fifth-place Northern Arizona before ninth-place Southern Utah comes to town Saturday.
“It’s do or die,” Idaho coach Jon Newlee said. “We gotta win these games, we gotta play our way into that top eight. It’s time to get going.”
Idaho currently sits at 11th place in the conference after a Saturday loss to Sacramento State. The Vandals came into their first season in the Big Sky off two straight WAC Championships and NCAA Tournament appearances, but they have struggled during their first season in the new conference.
Against the Hornets, 3-pointers and turnovers doomed the Vandals Saturday. Idaho (10-13, 4-8 Big Sky) lost the game 92-84 after Sacramento State (11-13, 9-4) hoisted up 49 3s, making 19 of them. The Hornets made a combined 37 3-pointers and scored 199 combined points in their two wins over Idaho this season.
“They had kids shooting 17 percent from 3 go 4-for-7, hit 50 percent today,” Newlee said. “And the other kid making 3s that hasn’t made squat all year long, and all of a sudden they’re out there making them. We had some breakdowns on those kids. We were helping inside, but we still needed to contest a little better.”
Sacramento State’s 3-point total was the second highest in the NCAA this season, but Idaho also had 24 turnovers in the loss. Senior guard Stacey Barr led all scorers with 28 points, but she threw away eight turnovers as well.
Even with the struggles, Idaho still had chances to take control of the game. After struggling early, the Vandals came back to tie the game at 40 with 18 seconds left in the half. Fantasia Hilliard hit a last-second 3-pointer to give the Hornets a three-point lead heading into the locker room.
The Vandals also grabbed a five-point lead with 17 minutes left in the game on a 3-pointer of their own by freshman post Geri McCorkell. From there, Idaho struggled again, falling behind by as many as 22 points.
“The game really flipped quickly on us,” Newlee said. “You can’t do that against a team that plays their style. We got away from our game plan after we got up by five. I thought some rushed shots kind of played into their hands right then.”
Idaho went on a 13-2 run to spark a comeback attempt with less than five minutes remaining in the game, but it wasn’t enough to beat the Hornets.
Idaho did have a couple bright spots in the game. Junior post Ali Forde dominated the paint for Idaho, forcing the massive amount of 3-pointers by Sacramento State. The Vandals also received a spark from sophomore guard Karlee Wilson who started the game instead of coming off the bench like she usually does. The Lewiston, Idaho, native finished with 14 points and six assists.
“I thought Karlee was tremendous today,” Newlee said. “It really hurt us when she ran out of gas for a stretch and I had to take her out. She just played her heart out and played as hard as she could. I couldn’t be happier with Karlee’s game today.”
Newlee said he was proud of his team’s comeback attempt despite the loss and said his team needs to have the same mentality going into the final stretch of the season.
Stephan Wiebe can be reached at [email protected]