The home-court advantage could push Idaho to an entirely new level as the Vandals host this week’s games in Memorial Gym.
Idaho (14-9, BSC 11-3) is currently in a four-way race for the top spot in the Big Sky women’s basketball rankings with Idaho State, Northern Colorado and Portland State, each with 11 wins on the season.
Every game down the stretch of the season has a little more weight to it for seeding in the Big Sky Tournament, and it all starts with home-court advantage.
“You got to defend your home floor in this league,” head coach Jon Newlee said. “You can’t afford any slip ups at home, we are going to have to come out and play extremely hard.”
Senior guard Taylor Pierce shoots a three against MSU in Cowan Spectrum.
The Vandals will be playing in Memorial Gym this week with the Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival rolling in to town. Even though basketball currently doesn’t have the largest fan base on campus, the women’s dedicated fanbase and energetic band help add a new layer to the homecourt advantage.
“Memorial Gym can be great, it can really get rocking if enough people are in there and the band is right there, it’s a great environment for us,” Newlee said.
Idaho first will host Northern Arizona (9-15, BSC 5-10), who’s had a tough go of its conference season so far and currently sits in the bottom three in the rankings.
The Lumberjacks are not a team that should be overlooked though, as they have won three out of their last four games, including a win against one of the top teams in the Big Sky rankings.
“(Northern Arizona) is playing extremely well right now,” Newlee said. “They went into Pocatello and beat Idaho State, just picked up a win at home. They are a hot team right now and we are going to have to play our best basketball.”
The Lumberjacks have been shooting the ball well from deep as of late, including a 65 percent performance against Idaho state, led by sopho- more Jacey Bailey who had seven threes along with 25 points.
Idaho won its last meeting with Northern Arizona in Flagstaff with a dominant performance from behind the arc, knocking down 15 threes on the way to an 86-69 win back in January.
The Thunderbirds (6-18, BSC 3-12) will come to town Saturday for what could be another interesting matchup as the Big Sky season continues to wind down.
Southern Utah has been less than great so far this season, currently just one spot above last place in the Big Sky.
Newlee said one of the keys to success will come down to winning the rebounding battle.
Rebecca Cardenas is leading the way with just under seven rebounds a game, so Idaho’s sopho- more center Natalie Klinker will need to continue to step up and be physical on the glass.
Southern Utah has also not had success on the road this year, notching an 1-11 record when playing outside of Cedar City, and with the loud environment in Memorial Gym, the Vandals will look to pick up another win in front of the Vandal faithful.
“Hopefully, it will be a big advantage. Hopefully, everybody is excited about what we are doing this season and they come out and really support our team,” Newlee said. “We haven’t been to Memorial Gym in a while and sometimes having to change venues can hurt you this late in the year. I’m hoping we can play a little better and shoot a little better this time.”
Idaho plays Northern Arizona 6 p.m. Thurs- day and Southern Utah 2 p.m. Saturday.
Zack Kellogg can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @kellogg_zack.