MOSCOW ? Idaho's women did all the right things on defense against Washington State on Sunday ? offense was a totally different story.
The Vandals turned it over a season-high 27 times, attempted a season-low 39 shots and fell to the visiting Cougars by a 53-50 score.
“I'm extremely disappointed to lose this basketball game,” Idaho coach Jon Newlee said. “I felt like we outplayed them in everything we were doing, except the turnovers really killed us and a lot of those were unforced.”
The Cougars entered the game as the nation's 25th-best scoring team, with a 76.3 average per game, along with a .433 field goal percentage. They had no such luck against the Vandal defense, which held them 23 points below their average and .257 shooting.
“I thought once again, just like against (Pacific), I thought we executed the defensive game plan great<” Newlee said. “We took away what we wanted to take away. Our kids really did a great job of rotating and getting to people and they really did a great job defensively.”
Idaho even out-rebounded WSU by a 41-39 margin, had six fewer fouls at 13-19 and blocked five shots compared to just one for the Cougars. The Vandals even outscored the taller WSU lineup 16-12 in the paint, but there were two key statistics that decided the game: offensive rebounds and turnovers.
WSU outscored Idaho 18-8 in points off turnovers and 16-7 on second chance points. WSU had 20 offensive boards, compared to just seven for Idaho, and only turned it over 11 times, while Idaho gave it up 27 times.
“We told them we can't keep giving games away,” Newlee said. “We've got to expect to win games. You can't play not to lose and I think we came out in the second half not to lose.”
Idaho put together another balanced offensive attack, as three players scored in double digits, led by sophomore Yinka Olorunnife's 12 points and eight rebounds. Junior Derisa Taleni and sophomore Rachele Kloke tacked on 11 points each, while Taleni pulled down nine boards and Kloke grabbed six.
The Vandal defense kept things tight in the first half, as Idaho allowed just three made field goals in the first eight minutes and held an 11-9 lead at 11:58 in the first. After exchanging baskets for five minutes, Idaho finished the half on a 12-5 run, starting with a 3-pointer by junior Charlotte Otero, and went into halftime with a 27-22 lead.
It was the Cougars who started strong in the second, as Idaho turned it over on its first three possessions and let WSU rattle off a 7-2 run to knot it up at 29 with 17:09 to play. From that point on, the score was tied or the lead changed 11 times.
The Cougars led 50-48 after a pair of April Cook free throws broke the 10th tie of the contest with 2:41 to go. The teams each turned the ball over twice over the next four possessions before Otero drained a wide open 3-pointer to give Idaho a 50-48 lead with :52 to go, but WSU's Cook knocked down a deep ball of her own just 20 seconds later ? her only field goal of the game ? to give WSU a 51-50 lead.
Idaho got the ball back with 33 seconds on the clock, but didn't even get a chance to tie or score, as a bobbled pass led to the team's 27th turnover of the game and sealed it for the Cougars.
“I just think it was a good game and it really came down to the last possession and we just came out on the bad end and we've got to start coming out on the right end,” Newlee said. “Our kids have got to feel some confidence coming away that we can play with people and if they take that away we'll be okay with it.”
Idaho has two remaining non-conference games this season, as they first head to Montana State on Saturday for a 1 p.m. (PST) contest before taking on Portland on Sunday, Dec. 28, at 2 p.m. on the road.
