MOSCOW ? For the Idaho women, it seems like there's always just one thing that goes wrong to unravel a good performance.
A season-high 29 turnovers that led to 24 Nevada points were the nail in the coffin for a Vandal team that had another good-shooting night and saw Katie Madison score a season-high 22 points, as Idaho fell 76-53 to the Wolf Pack at the Cowan Spectrum on Thursday.
The Vandals drop to 1-15 on the year and 0-4 in the Western Athletic Conference, while Nevada improves to 12-4 and 3-0 in the WAC.
“We find a different way to get ourselves beat every time,” Idaho coach Mike Divilbiss said. “We're playing hard and continuing to improve, but we're turning the ball over too much.”
Madison earned her 13th career double-double as she grabbed 10 boards to go along with her 22 points. She was 10-of-13 from the field and had her way in the paint, but had to battle foul trouble. Just a sophomore, she already has 17 games of 20 points or more in just 44 career games.
Divilbiss said he was proud of the way the team battled back after getting into an early 9-0 hole after turning the ball over three times and missing four shots in the first 2:24. The team also showed some grit late in the half when they went on a 14-4 run and cut a 28-14 Nevada lead to just 32-28 with 2:35 remaining in the half.
“I think the kids showed a lot of character,” Divilbiss said. “There are two things you can control, and that's your attitude and your effort.
“It's easy to have good attitude and good effort when things are going your way, but what's your attitude and effort like when it gets tough? That's what I'm really proud of these kids about. They continue to grow and improve.”
Freshman Carli Bakondy had the best game of her young career, as she played a career-high 19 minutes and scored the first four points of her career to go along with an assist and a steal. Senior Sara Dennehy added 11 points and four assists, while Yinka Olorunnife added eight points, nine boards, a steal, a block and an assist.
Nevada's Dellena Criner showed why she was a preseason First Team All-WAC honoree, as she dropped 29 points on eight-of-10 shooting with 10-for-10 shooting from the charity stripe. Brandi Fitzgerald added 16 points and four rebounds.
The Wolf Pack went into halftime with an 11-point lead at 39-28, then answered every Idaho basket with two or three of their own and helped themselves along with 12-of-12 free throw shooting in the final 20 minutes.
Divilbiss said that despite the adversity that the team is facing, he's still proud of the way they are playing hard every night and staying committed.
“I'm really, really proud of this group of kids, because it would be really easy right now to detach or to settle?then you don't improve,” Divilbiss said. “These kids are not doing that. They're playing really hard, they're competing, they're trying to do what we ask of them and I think they are improving.”
Next on Idaho's slate will be a home contest against Utah State on Saturday. The Aggies will enter the game with a 6-10 overall and 2-2 WAC record after losing at Boise State on Thursday night.
