MOSCOW, Idaho - Down-to-the-wire games aren't anything new for the University of Idaho women's basketball team. Too often this season, however, the Vandals have been left with a bitter taste.
Not so Wednesday night. The Vandals dispatched Nevada, the Western Athletic Conference's No. 2 team, 61-53, before an appreciative crowd at the Cowan Spectrum to end a seven-game losing streak to the Wolf Pack.
"When I got them together I said, 'Look, this is the same position we've been in. We are closing this one out. We are winning this ballgame,' " said Idaho coach Jon Newlee, whose team improved to 5-16 overall and 3-5 in the WAC while Nevada dropped to 12-10, 6-2. "Our kids did a great job of taking the victory and playing to win.
"I was proud of the way we finally finished a close one."
After a game that saw eight lead changes and nine ties, the Vandals finally made the surge that would give them the lead for good when Rachele Kloke dropped in two free throws with 13:21 left followed by a Kanisha Bello layup. It was the beginning of a 16-10 scoring that gave them the buffer they need to withstand a couple of Nevada runs as the game wound down.
Key through the second half were a concerted defensive effort that clogged the lane and prevented Nevada's normally productive post players from making a dent, near error-free ball by the Vandals, and a consistency from the line for Idaho.
"I thought we did a good job, especially in the second half, of attacking the rim," Newlee said.
Balance, both in scoring and on the boards, was the key for Idaho. Kloke finished with 17 points with Yinka Olorunnife adding 15 and Shaena Kuehu chipping in 12. Kuehu had eight rebounds to pace that phase of the game with Olorunnife pulling down seven and Kloke and point guard Charlotte Otero each with six.
"I told them, 'I'm proud of the way you responded,' " Newlee said. "Sometimes you feel like that black cloud is over your head. But you make your own luck. You have to make your own luck with effort and playing smart. I think we did that tonight."
