MOSCOW, Idaho - The University of Idaho women's basketball team dug itself a hole in the first half and was unable to recover in a 70-58 non-conference loss to Montana State Sunday.
The Vandals (0-3) made just one field goal in the first 13 minutes and shot 18 percent in the first half. The Bobcats (3-1) hit 61 percent of its shots to build a 24-point lead in the first half and survived Idaho's wild comeback bid in the final minutes.
"We didn't show up except for about 10 or 12 minutes of this basketball game," Idaho coach Jon Newlee said. "Once we did and played hard and made the extra pass and got the ball going and played defense and got active then we did a great job. That's one positive I take from the comeback because we could have lost this game by 40 points. We got a group that came together and decided to play with some pride and they did."
Montana State built a quick 10-2 lead as the Idaho did not connect on its first field goal until the 16:22 mark. The Vandals then missed their next 14 attempts, as well as four free throws, which allowed the Bobcats to build a 29-7 advantage with 7:13 remaining in the half. Montana State later earned its largest margin at 33-9 at the 5:34 mark, however Idaho found a spark and cut into the lead with 10 straight points. The Bobcats responded with a basket and two free throws, but an Emily Doran 3-pointer with 33 seconds remaining made the halftime score 37-22 in favor of Montana State.
Bianca Cheever nailed a 3-pointer after the break to cut the margin to 12, but Montana State responded by scoring the next eight points to push its lead to 45-25. The teams then played within three points over the next four minutes until Shaena Kuehu hit a 3-pointer to cut the lead to 53-37 with 12:33 remaining. The Bobcats then used a 9-2 run over the next six minutes to build their lead to 23 at 62-39, but the Vandals responded in a big way by scoring the next 13 points to make the score 62-52 with 3:03 remaining. Idaho missed on a few opportunities and was forced to foul with 1:30 remaining and only two team fouls. It took nearly a minute to send Montana State to the free throw line where the Bobcats made all six free throws in the final 37 seconds to thwart the Vandal rally.
Rachele Kloke scored game highs with 16 points, six rebounds and three assists. Kuehu scored 13 points and grabbed five rebounds and two steals off the bench and Charlotte Otero chipped in eight points. Cheever scored six points and grabbed five offensive rebounds and Doran finished with six points and four rebounds.
The Vandals shot 50 percent in the second half to salvage a 19-of-56 (.339) shooting performance and hit 7-of-18 (.389) 3-pointers. Idaho grabbed 14 offensive rebounds but managed just 13 second-chance points. The team also missed 10 free throws.
Montana State connected on 30-of-58 (.517) attempts from the floor and finished 10-of-11 (.909) from the free throw line. The Bobcats pounded the Vandals inside for a 48-16 advantage in points in the paint, but missed all 11 3-point attempts.
Both team committed 16 turnovers, however Montana State held a 25-13 margin in points off turnovers.
The Vandals head to the World Vision Classic at Waco, Texas, Nov. 27-29 and will face Baylor Friday at 5 p.m.