It all started with reasonably lofty expectations. It ended with dozens of incredible moments and records — almost every goal accomplished.
Idaho women’s basketball finished one of the program’s best seasons in 2018-19. The Vandals entertained thousands of fans en route to a deep run into March and the sport’s record books, accomplishments which will stand for a very long time.
The team had every reason to believe this year would be the kind of season players and coaches dream of, and the preseason polls agreed.
Picked to finish first in the Big Sky, the Vandals had the right mix of senior leadership, talent and program continuity coming into the 2018-19 season.
As always, head coach Jon Newlee scheduled a challenging non-conference schedule to better prepare the team for the long season to come. Matchups with Gonzaga and Stanford were predictably rough, but Idaho rose to the occasion against Texas Tech and entered conference play as a team ready to hit its stride.
Throughout conference play, there was no stopping the Splash Sisters. During a stretch in early January, senior guard Taylor Pierce hit eight threes in three of four games and averaged 26.5 points per game.
En route to a monumental season that would end with an NCAA single-season record for threes in a season, Pierce hit at least one three in 33 out of Idaho’s 34 games, and she had career-best averages in rebounds per game, free throw percentage, and points per game as one half of Idaho’s lethal shooting regiment.
The Idaho bench celebrates Sunday during the second round WNIT game in Memorial Gym.
For every record Pierce broke, it seemed as if fellow senior guard Mikayla Ferenz had another ceiling to shatter. Ferenz became the Big Sky’s all-time points leader with three games left in the regular season and she was rightfully recognized as the Big Sky’s Most Valuable Player. Within her historic season was her highest output of her career (40 points against San Francisco) and a triple-double against North Dakota. She also finished second in the conference with 116 3-pointers made, with only Pierce ahead of her with 154.
Idaho finished with a 16-4 record in con- ference play to earn the top overall seed in the Big Sky tournament. The regular season title was Idaho’s first since the 2015-16 season and the best regular season record since the 2013-14 season.
The Vandals also made noise in post- season awards. Ferenz and Pierce both made the All-Big Sky First Team, Newlee won Coach of the Year and freshman guard Gina Marxen won Big Sky Freshman of the Year.
Of course, not everything went to plan. Idaho cruised to the regular season Big Sky title, but the postseason tournament was rocky, to say the least. After dis- patching a shorthanded Northern Arizona, the Vandals fell to Portland State in thoroughly disappointing fashion.
One day after going 6-13 from beyond the arc, Pierce shot an unfathomable 0-12 from three and finished with only two points. The Vikings also managed to pull off the impossible by smothering Ferenz and holding her to only 13 points, her third lowest output of the year.
In spite of the postseason disappointment, Idaho rebounded for a memorable run in the Women’s National Invitational Tournament that included wins over Loyola Marymount and the University of Denver.
In particular, the team’s victory in the second round against Denver will be one of the defining moments of this season. In front of a packed Memorial Gym crowd, Idaho put together their best quarter of the season coming out of halftime with a 36-9 performance that flipped the momentum and ensured that the Vandals would go on to the third round of the tournament.
For all the momentum Idaho had going into the matchup, the University of Arizona simply was not going to be denied, ending the Vandals’ season in the desert.
For all the things this team came just short of accomplishing, there are just as many milestones to celebrate and moments to remember.
Looking forward, there is still plenty to get excited about for next season in spite of the Splash Sisters’ departures.
Freshman Gina Marxen was a revelation this season, becoming the second straight freshman to step in for Newlee after Allison Kirby’s 2017-18 season. Marxen started strong, recording a season-high 22 points against Stanford all the way back in November, foreshadowing great things to come. Marxen led the team in assists and steals. She was also Idaho’s most dangerous shooter when Ferenz and Pierce were double-teamed.
The Klinker sisters will be a problem for the Big Sky next year. The rise of junior forward Lizzy Klinker late in the season is a promising sign for next year, as she figures to be an excellent in-between post who is athletic enough to lead the Vandals on the boards and create her own shots. Her chemistry with sophomore Natalie was undeniable, their complementary styles of play down low will be a different but exciting approach from this year’s focus on perimeter shooting.
Very few seasons are perfect and the Splash Sisters’ final run had its fair share of bumps along the way.
However, the 2018-19 season will always be remembered for its record-breaking players and electric moments. The future is definitely bright, but Vandal fans will be reflecting proudly on this season for a long time to come.
Jonah Baker can be reached at arg-sports.uidaho.edu or on Twitter @jonahpbaker