MOSCOW, Idaho - Fresno State used a 58-percent shooting performance to hand the University of Idaho women's basketball team a 76-57 loss; its worst loss at home since 2001.
The Bulldogs (12-4, 4-0) connected on 34-of-59 attempts in the game, including 17-of-27 (.630) in the second half to remain alone in first place in the Western Athletic Conference. The Vandals (7-9, 3-2) dropped their first decision at home this season and the 19-point margin was the worst at home since UC Santa Barbara defeated Idaho, 84-60, Feb. 25, 2001.
"I would have bet money that was not going to happen to us," Idaho head coach Mike Divilbiss said. "I am very surprised. You have to give Fresno State a lot of credit because they came in here and played absolutely out of their minds. You run into teams like that sometimes, but I don't think it should have been 20 (points). I could live with 10. They were very good tonight defensively and they made us pay for every mistake. Not many people have come in and done that to us on our floor."
Fresno State began the game scoring the first five points, but Idaho came back to take a 6-5 lead at the 17:29 mark. The lead changed twice in the next three minutes before Idaho built a four-point lead on three occasions. The Bulldogs fought back to tie the score at 15-15 with 10:52 remaining and Jessica Summers made a lay-in to put the Vandals ahead 17-15 with 10:38 remaining. From that point on, Fresno State put together a 22-4 run over the next 8:47, building a 16-point lead with less than two-minutes to play in the half. The Bulldogs connected on 9-of-14 shots and caused six Idaho turnovers during the stretch. The Vandals could only cut into the lead by two points, making the score 39-25 at halftime.
The second half began with another flurry of points from Fresno State as the Bulldogs connected on four of their first five shots to build a 22-point lead with eight consecutive points. Leilani Mitchell hit a 3-pointer to end Idaho's scoreless drought, but Fresno State scored the next six points to build a 53-28 lead with 13:58 remaining. Idaho put together an 8-0 run to pull within 17 points at 55-38, but that was the closest the Vandals would get as Fresno State responded with a 9-0 run to build its biggest lead of the night at 64-38 with 8:54 to play. The teams battled back-and-forth the rest of the way, but Idaho would get no closer than 18 points before the final 19 point margin.
"We didn't do a very good job stopping the ball," Divilbiss said. "We are supposed to have three players back and stop the ball and we did a very poor job of that. They are a very veteran team and I think some of our youth really showed. They were a better team than we were, period."
Emily Faurholt led the Vandals in scoring with 15 points coming on 6-of-16 shooting. Mitchell was close behind with 12 points while Summers also chipped in 12. Mitchell also dished out eight assists in the game and grabbed four steals.
The Bulldogs were led by Amy Parrish with 23 points and Mirenda Swearengin served up nine assists.
The Vandals shot 22-of-53 (.415) for the game.
Idaho will now travel to San Jose, Calif., to match-up with San Jose State Saturday. The game begins at 7 p.m.
"I really like these players and I like this team. I will be really surprised if we don't come back Saturday and play with some real heart," Divilbiss said.
