With the clock winding down in the fourth quarter, the Idaho Vandals were down two to Eastern Washington in a game where they trailed by as much as 16. Graduate guard Olivia Nelson fought the swarming defense and received the ball at the top of the key. Nelson sized up the defense and drove to her left.
Nelson then used her iconic spin move to get the ball back to her right hand, and from there, she made a contented layup over EWU freshman power forward Jaecy Eggers to tie the game at 60. The Vandals, however, committed their 18th turnover of the game, and on the next possession the Eagles capitalized.
Junior guard Anja Bujvic had the ball knocked away by graduate guard Peyton Howard. Senior guard Alexis Pettis picked up the loose ball and, with seconds remaining, threw a pass from the other side of halfcourt that dropped to Howard at the free-throw line.
Howard received the ball and was in a foot race with Nelson that she won. She scooped in the layup and made the ensuing free throw with 3.9 seconds to help the Eagles defeat the Vandals 63-60. This game led the Vandals to their second straight loss, dropping them to 16-8 (8-5).
“It was fitting that we lost on a turnover, the story of the game,” Head Coach Arthur Moreira said. “I was proud of how we battled back and showed that we didn’t give up. I wish we were able to come out of that with a win because the girls deserved it.”
The Vandals, coming off a heartbreaking loss over Sacramento State last Saturday, looked to snap their losing streak. Idaho needed to get off to a hot start, which was the opposite of what transpired. The Vandals’ lack of shooting and turnovers hampered their efforts, and they trailed 37-24 heading into the locker room.
Moreira was not pleased with how the Vandals started the game, digging themselves a double-digit hole to climb out of.
“We put a big emphasis this week on playing hard and competing and not letting other teams beat us,” Moreira said. “I didn’t think we did a good job of that in the first half. We got a little sped up. It was like we were trying too hard to make things happen instead of letting the game come to us.”
Idaho’s 14 turnovers and lack of offensive firepower were two significant reasons they were down 13 at halftime. The Vandals came out of the locker room inspired to flip the script and get back in the game.
The Eagles were determined to stretch the lead and hand the Vandals their second straight loss. Through five minutes of the third quarter, the plan was working for the Eagles, and they had stretched their lead to 46-30, the largest of the game.
Idaho showed its resilience and was going toe to toe with the Eagles at every step. With just over six minutes left, the Vandals flexed their muscles.
Junior forward Sarah Brans made a tough layup in the paint, and on the other end, Aadland blocked the Eagles’ jump shot.
Sophomore guard Hope Hassmann picked up the ball and raced up the court. Hassmann used her patience and found a trailing freshman guard Ella Uriarte, who knocked down a three-pointer to cut the Vandals’ deficit to six.
The Vandals used that three-pointer to go on a 10-4 run, six of which were scored by Nelson, and they cut the lead to two. However, the Vandals fell in the end to drop their second straight and fourth in their last six games.
The loss is a glaring one, but the Vandals had some highlights that hadn’t shown up in the past couple of games, starting with Nelson. Nelson, who had struggled the past couple of games, got back on track and scored a game-high 20 points (10 in the fourth quarter) on 9/19 shooting.
Hassmann also played well, scoring 11 points, five assists and making some clutch shots, including an up-and-under layup in the fourth quarter to help spark the Vandals’ late run.
The Vandals and Moreira are on a tough stretch, and although it is a tough stretch, Moreira believes his team is learning from these tricky games.
“A lot of it is experiences being able to be in those situations,” Moreira said. “Sometimes it’s one of those things where you can work at it in practice, you can coach it, but you learn better when you’re facing that situation,”
The Vandals now have to flush the Eagles loss and shift their focus to the red-hot Northern Arizona Lumberjacks, who defeated them 106-76 in Flagstaff last month.
“They’re hard to play against,” Moreira said. We have to be able to score. They are so good offensively. They’re a team that if we hold them in the 70s, it will be a good game. It’s going to be a joint effort by offense and defense to be able to execute.”
The Vandals and Lumberjacks will tip off from ICCU Arena on Thursday, Feb. 20 at 6 p.m.