MOSCOW, Idaho - The University of Idaho women's basketball team lost its sixth-straight Western Athletic Conference game and 10th straight overall Saturday night as it fell, 87-66, to Louisiana Tech at the Cowan Spectrum, in Moscow.
Louisiana Tech outshot Idaho .443 to .385. The Lady Techsters also held a small edge in rebounds as they collected 43 of them to Idaho's 39.
The loss drops Idaho's record to 3-14 on the season and 0-6 in the WAC. Louisiana Tech improves its record to 9-10 overall and 4-2 in the league.
"I feel bad for the kids," coach Mike Divilbiss said. "They are busting their rear ends. We are shorthanded and lost our only senior and that has hurt us, but we aren't about to make excuses."
"Louisiana Tech hasn't been shooting very well, so we made some defensive adjustments to make them shoot it and beat us and they shot well tonight. We rebounded the ball a lot better against them tonight then we did last season. Last year they just abused us on the glass."
"I think what we really need is a 'hump game'. We just need that one game to teach us to win and get us over that hump."
Katie Madison recorded her sixth double-double of the season to lead the way for the Vandals. Madison had a game-high 25 points as well as a game-high tying 10 rebounds. Liz Witte had 15 points for Idaho and was 6-8 from the free throw line. Sara Dennehy also was in double digits on the night as she scored 11 points.
"I didn't come into this game with a different mind set or anything like that," Madison said. "I just go into the game and try and see how they are playing me and change my game from how they play me. At first they weren't doubling me so I took it and then they started bringing two girls on me."
Led by Ty Moore and JoKeirra Sneed, who each had 16, five Lady Techsters were in double-figures on the night. Nastassja Levingston had 13 points on 5-9 shooting. Eboni Mangum had 11 points and was 4-11 from the field. Tamika Kursh rounded out the quintet as she had an even 10 points and was 3-7 from the field.
The game opened with a quick pace. The teams looked as if they might trade baskets all night. Idaho's first points came from Madison who took her first trip to the foul line with 18:35 to play in the opening half. Madison made both of her free throws to tie the score at 2. Charlotte Otero quickly followed with a jumper in the lane and the Vandals had their first lead 4-2. Both teams opened the game hot from the floor. Idaho didn't miss a basket until Liz Witte missed the middle free throw of three with 14:07 to play in the first half. Witte's 2-3 trip to the line tied the score at 15 with 14 minutes to go in the half.
With the score tied at 17, Louisiana Tech began a little run. The 18-4 run pushed it to a 35-21 lead with 8:15 to play in the first. Sneed had six points for the Lady Techsters during their run.
An 8-2 spurt to open the second half pushed Louisiana Tech to its biggest lead of the night to that point. With 16:58 to play the Lady Techsters led 53-36. The Lady Techsters began to use their experience and athleticism to take advantage of the young Vandals and began pulling away.
Madison collected her fifth personal foul with 4:52 to play. From there, Louisiana Tech went on a 12-5 run to close the game. A Dennehy layup with 15 seconds to play provided the final 87-66 margin.
