PORTLAND, Ore. ? The Idaho women's basketball team erased an 18-point deficit and overcame a sloppy first half against Portland, but the Vandals let unforced errors get in the way in a 48-44 loss to the Pilots.
Idaho started the game off with a bang, as the Vandals scored seven of the first nine points to jump out to a 7-2 lead, but then everything went downhill. After Rachele Kloke's lay-up at the 17:16 mark in the first, Idaho went on a 12-minute field goal drought that included 10 straight missed shots and 10 turnovers. In the meantime, Portland went on a 24-3 run that saw Idaho trail by as many as 18 points.
“I thought we played a terrible first half,” Idaho coach Jon Newlee said. “We weren't moving the ball, we were turning it over, we weren't running our stuff and from an offensive standpoint, there was nothing going on.”
After trailing 28-15 at the half, Idaho came back in the second and steadily chipped away at the Portland lead. Sophomore Yinka Olorunnife led the way, as she scored 15 of her game-high 20 points and six of her 15 rebounds in the second. It was Olorunnife's third 20-point game of the season and Western Athletic Conference-leading second 15-rebound game of the year.
“They basically were daring her (Olorunnife) to shoot the three and she hit a couple and then she finished inside,” Newlee said. “She worked hard on the glass the entire game and really gave us a lot of energy.”
Idaho used a .429 second-half shooting performance to ease Portland's lead down into single digits, then to a single point with 1:24 remaining at 45-44. The Vandals grabbed a defensive rebound at 1:07 and headed down the floor with a chance to take the lead, but a tipped pass led to Idaho's 22nd turnover of the day and Portland's Karlie Burris made the Vandals pay with a 3-pointer 30 seconds later to give the Pilots a four-point lead.
“The good news was that we were only down 13 at halftime and we came out in the second half and we were a totally different team,” Newlee said. “We attacked the rim and defensively, we really clamped down and played probably our best half of the season on the defensive side.”
For the second time in three games, Idaho let turnovers get the best of them. Two weeks ago against Washington State, Idaho had a season-high 27 turnovers in a three-point loss and on Sunday against Portland, the Vandals had 23 turnovers that led to 24 points ? half the Pilots' point total ? in a four-point loss.
“It was just bad decisions with the ball,” Newlee said. “It wasn't because of pressure, it was just passing and catching. We talk about doing the little things and the little things killed us today.”
One positive that Newlee and the Vandals take from Sunday's game is that the team held Portland to just 48 points ? 13 below the Pilots' season average. It is the sixth consecutive game that Idaho's defense has held a team more than 10 points below its season scoring average.
Idaho shot just .261 in the first half, while Portland shot .324 and turned 13 Idaho turnovers into 18 points. The Vandals shot .429 in the second, while Portland managed just .250 from the floor. Idaho out-rebounded Portland 45-36 and out-scored the Pilots 20-18 in the paint.
With the non-conference slate now finished, the Vandals will kick off the WAC season over the weekend with a pair of home games, starting with Boise State on Saturday at 2 p.m., followed by Utah State on Monday at 7 p.m.
“We've got 16 games to make a statement,” Newlee said. “Every game is important. Every game is going to mean something.
“You can't go back, so we've really got to get prepared for every game and have maximum effort every time we hit the floor.”
