On a cold, rainy Monday night in Moscow, the Idaho Vandals women’s basketball team was finally back under the lights in the ICCU arena. The Vandals took on Walla Walla University, and after a strong third quarter, they defeated Walla Walla 92-50 to grab their first victory of the season.
In the first game, nerves set in for the Vandals as they struggled coming out of the gate against the Wolves. Junior forward Kennedy Johnson got the Vandals on the board first with two free throws to begin the game. The Vandals would continue to shoot, but the shots were not falling for them. However, the Vandals took a 20-17 lead into the 2nd quarter. Johnson led the Vandals with seven points, and Freshman guard Aspen Caldwell added six points of her own for the Vandals.
In the second quarter, the Vandals were much more effective; junior guard Ashlyn and graduate forward Hope Butera led the Vandals with six points each, as the Vandals took a 41-34 lead into the locker room.
Johnson led the Vandals with 11 points in the first half; the Vandals struggled at first but eventually got rolling. The Vandals finished the half 13/35 from the field, 4/7 from three, and a perfect 11/11 from the free throw line.
Walla Walla went an impressive 14/24 from the field, 5/11 from three, and 1/4 from the line. Coming out of the locker room, the Vandals woke up and exploded, scoring 35 points in the third quarter and putting the game out of reach. The Vandals took a 76-40 lead into the final quarter.
Johnson and Caldwell helped the Vandals put the game away with seven points apiece in the third quarter. The Vandals would close out the fourth quarter by outscoring the Wolves 16-10 and closing out opening night with a 92-50 victory.
The Vandals finished the game shooting 32/70 from the field, 9/17 from three-point range, and 19/25 from free throw. Johnson finished the night with 18 points, 7/14 shooting 2/3 from three and a perfect 2/2 from the line.
In her college debut, Caldwell provided a strong 13 points, 4/6 shooting 5/6 from the line, and dished out five assists. Fifth-year guard Jaliyah Casem led the Wolves to finish with 13 points, 5/6 from the field and 3/4 from three.
With the win, the Carrie Eighmey era began with a victory. Eighmey was pleased with the night and to get the first one out of the way. “I think the biggest thing with the game for us was to play in our arena. I felt especially in the first half, we were nervous, and so get those first game jitters out; it’s a great opportunity for a new team to get the first one under their belt,” she said.
Cal Poly
Coming off a 92-50 victory, the Vandals hosted 0-1 Cal Poly. Unfortunately, The Vandals would be on the losing end of this one as the Vandals would fall to Mustangs 65-55 to fall to 1-1 on the young season.
Like the start of the Walla Walla game, the Vandals started slow and were punished as the Mustangs would use a strong first quarter to take a 17-14 lead over the Vandals. Junior guard Annika Shah led the Mustangs with 13 points, Junior forward Kennedy Johnson led the Vandals with four.
The Vandals’ struggles continued, and the Mustangs pushed their halftime lead to 33-29. Idaho, struggling all first half, ended the half 10/31 from the field, 4/15 from the three-point line, and 5/6 from the line. The Mustangs would go 11/21 from the field, adding 2/5 from beyond the arc and 9/10 from the line.
The third quarter was the deciding factor as the Mustangs outscored the Vandals 17-11 and put the game at 50-40, leaving the Vandals in a ten-point hole. The Vandals improved a little in the fourth quarter, pushing hard for a late run; however, the ten-point deficit proved too much as the Vandals would chip away, but the Mustangs pulled away and defeated the Vandals 65-55, dropping the Vandals to 1-1.
The Vandals shot 17/51 from the field overall for the game, shooting 8/27 from three and 13/18 from the free throw line. The Mustangs were 21/56 from the field, knocking down 4/10 from three and 19/21 from the free throw line. Sophomore guard Asha Phillips would lead the Vandals with a career-high 14 points; she went 5/10 from the field, 3/4 from three-point range, and 1/2 from the free throw line.
The shooting stats may be concerning for the Vandals, but the most concerning was the rebounding and second-chance points given up. Idaho got outrebounded by the Mustangs 48 to 29 and gave up 18 second-chance points.
Coach Eighmey was disappointed with those two stats, especially “I thought the difference in the game was the offensive rebounds we gave up. They had 18-second chance points and 16 offensive rebounds. It was a little deflating for us at times because we guard well for 25,26 seconds then give something easy off the (offensive) rebound, definitely an area we need to clean up,” she said.
The Vandals will be back on the court on the beautiful islands of Hawaii as they participate in the Bank of Hawaii classic.
Idaho will face California State Fullerton on Friday, Nov. 17, at 3 p.m. as the Vandals look to get back on track after a tough loss.
Jayden Barfuss can be reached at [email protected]