LAS CRUCES, N.M. ? It was the same old story for the Vandal women on Tuesday at the Western Athletic Conference Tournament, as ice-cold shooting turned a halftime lead into an insurmountable deficit in a 70-63 loss to San Jose State in the opening round game.
After starting off the first half shooting a solid 44.8 percent from the field, the Vandals went ice cold in the second and suffered a 14-minute drought without a made field goal, missing their first 23 of the half. Idaho's only scoring during that time came on six made free throws.
The drought lasted until the 7:32 mark when Katie Madison successfully converted a layup plus a free throw off a foul to bring Idaho within seven at 54-47, but it wouldn't be enough to kick-start the Vandal attack.
“We've been shooting the ball much better and I'm a little surprised that we shot the ball that way in the second half,” Idaho head coach Mike Divilbiss said. “In the last two weeks, we've been a lot more aggressive offensively, which is how we played in the first half.
“To have this happen to us again was disappointing.”
The Spartans, which shot an NCAA-low 57.1 percent from the free throw line during the regular season hit 21-of-32 (.656) from the charity stripe on Tuesday. Idaho was 16-of-25 (.640) from the free throw line.
Madison did her best to keep the Vandals in the game, as she scored 24 and pulled down a season-high 13 boards. Freshman Yinka Olorunnife earned her second career double-double with 10 points and a career-high 15 rebounds in 34 minutes.
The Spartans were lead by an unlikely star in Alisha Hicks, who came into the game averaging just four points in the game, but finished with 19 and 10 rebounds. Natalie White, the WAC's top scorer had 12 points and six rebounds on four-of-16 shooting.
The Vandals end the season with a 4-25 overall record, while the Spartans move on to face top-seeded Fresno State in the quarterfinal. After the game, Divilbiss recognized the team's mental toughness over the season.
“What matters is your character and I thought that these kids all year long have shown great character in a very tough building situation and have fought and fought and fought,” Divilbiss said. “We had to fight for everything we've done this year.”
