The first season back in the Big Sky didn’t go as planned for the Idaho women’s basketball team.
After two straight WAC titles and two straight NCAA Tournament berths, the Vandals couldn’t find their footing in their first year back in the Big Sky after 18 years. Finishing with a 14-15 record and an 8-10 Big Sky record, the Vandals barely missed out on the No. 8 and final seed in the Big Sky Tournament.
The tiebreaking system that kept them out of the tournament was something Idaho coach Jon Newlee said he had a problem with after a season-ending loss to Idaho State.
“My thoughts on it are the tiebreaking system is messed up in the Big Sky and the fact that also their schedule-making is messed up,” Newlee said following the season finale. “So, if your schedule-making is not fair, they need to send everybody to the conference tournament.”
Newlee’s wish will come true in 2015 as new rules in the Big Sky will allow all 12 teams to make the conference tournaments for basketball.
Idaho and Idaho State were both tied for eighth in the conference as the regular season ended. The Big Sky tiebreaker depended on how the teams faired against the best teams in the conference. Both the Vandals and Bengals were 0-2 against Montana, while neither team beat Sacramento State either.
Both teams were also 1-2 against Eastern Washington and Northern Colorado, the third and fourth-place teams, so it came down to how each did against North Dakota, Northern Arizona and Montana State who were all tied for fifth. Idaho State’s 4-1 record
against those teams earned them a spot over Idaho.
Regardless of how the postseason seeding shook out, it was still a disappointing season for the Vandals. The strong play of senior guard Stacey Barr, who led the team with 21.3 points per game and averaged third-most 6.7 rebounds per game, was one of the few bright spots this year. No other player averaged double-digit points.
“Stacey Barr, what can you say — one of the all-time great Vandals without a doubt,” Newlee said in March. “I really believe she should be in the hall of fame here … after her career is done for all she’s done — WAC Player of the Year, putting us on her back and winning championships in Las Vegas. The year she’s had, her senior year, has been great for her.”
Junior guard Christina Salvatore averaged 9.8 points per game and 7.2 rebounds per game, which put her second in scoring and rebounding on the team. Junior post Ali Forde averaged a similar stat line, with 9.4 points per game and 7.6 rebounds per game. Her rebounds led the team as well as her blocks, which was an eye-popping 60 on the year. The second most blocks was just 13 by Salvatore.
Idaho finished 2014 at 6-5 with big wins over former-WAC foe Seattle U on the road and an unbelievable 104-19 win over Multnomah, a small school in Portland. The Vandals also picked up a win over Southeast Missouri State in Toledo in the Glass City Tournament in the first half of the season. The inconsistency in Big Sky play eventually led to Idaho’s downfall, as the team never was able to win more than two games in a row despite having an 8-10 record.
Ben Evensen
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