CHENEY, Wash. - The University of Idaho women's basketball team lost its fourth decision of the season by less than three points with a 65-63 setback at Eastern Washington in its final non-conference game of the season.
The loss drops Idaho to 4-7 on the season with four losses coming by a combined eight points. Eastern Washington improves to 5-7 with the win.
"I really am proud of this team. They were awesome" Idaho head coach Mike Divilbiss said. "It was a game of runs and we had a little trouble matching up with their size at the wings in the first half, but we definitely earned an opportunity to win this game and, like so many of our games, it came down to one possession."
The first half remained close as the teams battled to six ties and three lead changes. The Vandals grabbed the biggest lead of the half at 25-19 at the 5:54 mark, but the Eagles ended the half with an 11-0 run to take a 30-25 advantage at half time.
Eastern Washington's momentum continued after the intermission as it built a 37-27 with 17:09 remaining. Four minutes later the Eagles built a 12-point lead, their biggest of the game, at 48-36 at the 13:00 mark. Idaho began to chip away and narrowed the margin to 52-50 with 9:28 remaining and eventually tied the game at 59-59 at the 4:20 mark. The teams traded free throws and a lay in twice and the score was tied 63-63 with 36 seconds remaining. Eastern Washington had what looked to be the final possession and Jamie Chicane drew a foul and converted both free throws with 17 seconds remaining. The Vandals then had a chance to tie or take the lead, but instead turned the ball over and were forced to foul with one second remaining. Chicane missed both free throws, but Idaho did not have time to get a shot before the final buzzer.
Faurholt led all scorers with 21 points while Leilani Mitchell was close behind with 18 points. Jessica Summers pitched in with her second-consecutive double-double performance with 12 points and a career-high 16 rebounds. Mitchell and Summers each finished with five assists and Mitchell also grabbed three steals.
Eastern Washington shot a blazing 21-of-41 (.512) from the floor in the game and converted 19-of-28 free throws. Idaho shot just 15 free throws in the game, making 11 of them.
"Our players really recognized how much they had to overcome in this game and nearly pulled it off," Divilbiss said.
Idaho begins Western Athletic Conference play next week with games at New Mexico State, Thursday (Jan. 5), and Louisiana Tech, Saturday (Jan. 7).
"I felt our players really bonded and really grew in this game. The roots are developing and that is healthy. Our goal wasn't to be 11-0 before conference began, it was to be a better basketball team than when we started. We now start our second season and we are a pretty darn good 4-7 basketball team," Divilbiss said.
