After a truly memorable run, the women’s basketball season has come to an end.
The Vandals lost 68-60 to the University of Arizona Wildcats Thursday in the third round of the Women’s National Invitational Tournament (WNIT). The loss ends Idaho’s longest postseason run in the WNIT in more than 15 years.
Idaho’s offense struggled in the first half to find any footing beyond the arc. The Vandals shot 3-16 from 3-point range and quickly found themselves down in the second quarter after staying within one possession for much of the first quarter. Arizona found holes in Idaho’s defense by feeding freshman forward Cate Reese, who scored seven of her 14 points in the second quarter.
The second quarter was also a microcosm of when streaky shooting turns bone-dry. Both teams combined to shoot 3-15 from behind the arc in the quarter, which was the first sign Idaho would struggle to match Arizona’s size and athleticism with sharpshooting.
Senior guard Taylor Pierce shoots a three over a Denver defender Sunday during the second round WNIT game in Memorial Gym.
While Idaho struggled to execute its gameplan in stretches of the first half, the Wildcats got everything they could want out of Pac-12 All-Freshman team honoree Aari McDonald. The sophomore guard scored only four points in the first half, but she dished out six assists in the first quarter alone. Once the Wildcats came out of the locker room for the second half, McDonald found her shot and poured in 14 more points.
Idaho took strides to upset Arizona in the second half, whittling the deficit all the way down to two points after a 3-pointer by senior guard Mikayla Ferenz with 2:47 left in the third quarter. Ferenz struggled throughout the game, but her back-to-back threes in the quarter nearly shifted the momentum all the way into Idaho’s corner. The Vandals then suffered through a sequence that included two missed shots and three turnovers to end the quarter as Arizona grew the deficit back to nine.
Senior forward Tee Tee Starks hit a jumper to cap a 16-0 run for Arizona that stretched nearly six minutes long and well into the fourth quarter. The Vandals eventually pulled within seven thanks to their best shooting quarter of the night, but it was too little, too late.
Senior guard Taylor Pierce sank three 3-pointers in the final frame and finished with a team-high 20 points. Pierce had the best shooting performance on the team after finishing 6-12 from behind the arc, but the rest of the team finished 4-18 from three.
Arizona suffocated Idaho’s offense all night and forced more than enough turnovers to turn the tide of the game. Idaho committed 15 turnovers to Arizona’s eight, and the Wildcats consistently took advantage of the takeaways, with 20 points off turnovers. In spite of their size, Arizona actually pulled down three fewer rebounds than the Vandals, but five of Idaho’s turnovers came after it had secured a rebound directly before.
The loss ends a remarkable season that included a regular season Big Sky conference title, various scoring records for Pierce and Ferenz, and the highest overall winning percentage since the 2015-16 season, when Idaho last received a berth in the NCAA tournament.
Jonah Baker can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @jonahpbaker