LAS CRUCES, N.M. - For Vandal fans the sense of deja vu must have been prevalent Saturday night when for the second time in two games their squad was done in late by the New Mexico State Aggies. This time it was the Vandal women's squad who fell victim to the run suffering a 70-65 loss, Saturday at the Pan American Center in Las Cruces, N.M.
With the loss Idaho falls to 3-12 on the season and 0-4 in Western Athletic Conference play. NMSU improves to 8-8 overall and 3-1 in the WAC.
"I think we hurt ourselves, we had the game in hand, we were up five but turned the ball over three times in a row and that cost us the game," head coach Mike Divilbiss said. "But we are coming, we're getting better. I thought the kids played outstanding tonight. I am proud of them and proud to be their coach. I hurt for these kids to lose like that."
"It's nice to see we had three kids scoring, we are doing a lot of things really well," Divilbiss said. "The only thing I am disappointed in tonight is the outcome. It's okay to be disappointed, but it is more important to focus on your development and the process. I have said that for 20 years pretty consistently and will continue to say that. Our fans and our school should be very proud of this group of kids. Don't lose faith, these kids will do something special before they are done here."
Three Vandals led by Katie Madison's 23 points scored in double-digits. Sara Dennehy added 19 and Liz Witte, who didn't miss a single shot all game, finished with 17. Anikia Jawara had 24 for New Mexico State, who also had three players in double figures. Sherell Neal finished with 22 and Cecilia Russell-Nava added 14.
Charlotte Otero had seven assists on the night. Otero also collected two steals and three rebounds in the contest.
"Everyone is disappointed, obviously," Otero said. "We tried to focus on every four minutes, we wanted to win each four minutes and play until we got a timeout. Towards the end we just made some mental mistakes and it fell apart a little at the end."
The two teams kept it close early. Dennehy sandwiched a free throw and a 3-pointer around a Russell-Nava 3-pointer to give Idaho an early 4-3 advantage. After Madison's layup gave Idaho a three-point lead, Jawara cut the lead back to one, 6-5, with a layup of her own.
Witte pushed the lead to 9-5 when she hit the first of her five 3-pointers. Another Russell Nava 3-pointer followed by a Jawara layup gave NMSU its first lead of the game at 10-9. Witte scored the next five points on a running layup in traffic and her second 3-pointer of the night pushing the lead back to four with 12:55 to play. The Vandals wouldn't trail again until there was a mere 1:30 remaining in the game.
Idaho kept the heat on the Aggies pushing their lead to eight on another Madison layup. After Jawara answered with a jump shot in the lane, Dennehy's layup pushed the lead back out to eight, 20-12.
NMSU cut the lead to one, going on a 12-5 run, which made the score 25-24. During the run Jawara had five points, three of them coming at the free throw line, where she was 8-of-9 for the game. Jawara came into the game averaging only 58 percent from the line. A Neal 3-pointer brought the score to 25-24, and was promptly answered by Sara Dennehy who hit a 3-pointer of her own to give the Vandals back a four-point cushion 28-24.
Madison scored Idaho's last five points of the first half converting on an old-fashioned three-point play and hitting a layup with 28 seconds left in the half. Madison's points were sandwiched around Jawara and Neal each hitting layups. As the teams headed to the intermission the Vandals held a 33-28 advantage.
NMSU came out of the gate hot in the second half and used a 12-7 run to force the game???s first tie at 40. Dennehy had five of Idaho's seven points in the stretch hitting on a 3-pointer and converting two free throws after a shooting foul put her on the line. Neal had six of the Aggies' points in the stretch going 2-of-2 from the field and 2-of-2 from the free throw line. After the tie Idaho went on a run of its own, taking their biggest lead of the game during the stretch.
The Vandals held the Aggies without a score for 3:06. During that time Idaho racked up eight points, aided by Katie Madison converting a 3-point play and Liz Witte hitting one from behind the arc. Jawara broke the Vandal run hitting a jumper with 10:34 to play. Idaho wasn't through yet, however, and pushed the run out to as much as 15-4, after an Otero jumper made the score 55-44. With 6:44 to play Idaho held its biggest lead of the game. A Dennehy 3-pointer had given the Vandals a 58-46 advantage. And then NMSU began to make its run.
The Aggies outscored Idaho 24-7 in the game's final 6:30. During the final run Neal and Jawara both had eight points. Jawara hit two free throws with two seconds left to give the Aggies the final 70-65 margin.
The Vandals return to action Wednesday as they head to Honolulu, Hawai`i to face the Rainbow Wahine. Tip off is set for 9 p.m., PST.
