LOGAN, Utah ? The University of Idaho women's basketball team played what was easily its best game of the year on Saturday, as the Vandals dropped Utah State by a score of 67-55 on senior night at Logan, Utah, to get their first road win of the season.
“It takes tremendous character and ?teamness' to win on the road,” Idaho head coach Mike Divilbiss said. “They're starting to bond and believe in each other and they're really playing well right now. Everyone contributed tonight and it was really neat to see.”
While it was senior night for the Aggies, it was Idaho senior Sara Dennehy who stole the show.
Dennehy busted out a season-high 20 points, as well as seven boards, four assists and one block in her final regular-season game as a Vandal. Freshman Therese Riedel added 12 points on six-of-10 shooting with six boards.
“The seniors are just excited to finish their careers out well,” Divilbiss said. “Sara is so skilled. When she gets her mind made up that she's going to play, she can really go.
“It didn't show in the stats, but Katie Schlotthauer was really good for us defensively and Lindsey (Koppen) gave us a good spark early and hit a big shot for us.”
Sophomore Katie Madison saw her eight-game double-digit scoring streak end at eight games, but still added seven points and 10 boards after twisting her ankle early in the first half.
Idaho tied its season-high with 45.5 percent shooting from the field, while Utah State started off one-of-11 from the field and didn't do too much better, as the Aggies finished up the game shooting just 26.9 percent from the floor. Utah State was just one-of-13 (7.7 percent) from beyond the three-point line for the game.
The win brings Idaho up to 4-24 on the season and 3-13 in Western Athletic Conference play and drops Utah State to 9-19 and 5-11 in the conference. The win also gives Idaho its first back-to-back conference wins since beating Boise State and Utah State in successive games on March 3 and March 7 of 2006.
Jenny Gross led the Aggies with 18 points and six rebounds, while Shawnta Pope and Danyelle Snelgro added 13 each.
Idaho out-rebounded Utah State by a 43-41 margin and actually had more turnovers than the Aggies, but Idaho's hot shooting was enough to hold off Utah State.
With the final games of the regular season coming to a close, the WAC tournament picture has become much clearer. Fresno State, with its big win over Nevada on Saturday, has clinched the top seed in the tournament. The Vandals will meet San Jose State in the play-in game on Tuesday for a chance to take on the Bulldogs in Wednesday's quarterfinal matchup.
“Everybody is 0-0 now,” Divilbiss said. “I think this game can really help our belief and confidence.
“We've worked really hard to get to this point, on the court and off. You have to work hard to build those relationships and you can't win on the road with out that.”
The play-in game will be at 4 p.m. (PST) on Tuesday at the Pan American Center at Las Cruces, N.M.
