MOSCOW - It seemed as if nothing went Idaho's way Thursday night as the Vandal women's basketball team was overwhelmed by Gonzaga 91-42 in Memorial Gym.
Gonzaga (2-1) converted 26 Idaho (1-2) turnovers into 34 points and held the Vandals to just 28.6 percent (14-of-49) shooting from the field to cruise to the victory.
"Well I think in spurts we do okay but then if you relax against a team like the Zags that's what happens," Idaho coach Jon Newlee said. "It turns so fast, and that's what we told our players, they transition into their game, their likely to pass, they hit the spot. If we make a turnover in the open floor we're going to pay for it, that's why I was disappointed in our execution as far as taking care of the basketball."
The Bulldogs also owned a 49-33 rebounding advantage and grabbed 23 offensive rebounds in the game, which led to 26 second-chance points.
Idaho freshman Stacey Barr and senior Adrie Shiels each made their first career start, and Barr led the Vandals with 18 points on 6-of-15 shooting including 3-of-11 from 3-point range. Shiels and junior Jessica Graham each added six points for Idaho.
"I wouldn't say disappointed because we've learned a lot from those two games," Shiels said of Idaho's two losses this week. "We have a lot of leaps to take because we are such a young team. We've learned a good couple of lessons from those games and we'll get there."
Barr's three 3-pointers were the only ones that went down for Idaho, as the team went 3-of-19 from deep. The Vandals struggled from the free throw line as well, hitting just 11-of-19 (57.9 percent) attempts.
Idaho was without senior Ganeaya Rogers and freshman Krissy Karr, who each started the Vandals' first two games, due to injury. The Vandals had just eight players available for the game.
"It's still early, it's the third game," Newlee said. "They understand what's going on. They understand we're shorthanded. Everybody rallies. We just talked about it up there, it's a long season and we're barely into it, so we're doing fine."
Gonzaga shot 44.9 percent (35-of-78) from the field and hit 9-of-25 3's. The Bulldogs committed just 10 turnovers in the game, and scored 40 of their 91 points in the paint. Kayla Standish led GU with 22 points. Katelan Redmon and Haiden Palmer each scored 14 points for Gonzaga, and Taelor Karr finished with six points on 2-of-4 shooting from 3-point distance, and had eight assists. Gonzaga finished with 28 assists on its 25 made field goals.
Idaho's next test comes on Nov. 20 when the Vandals pay a visit to rival Montana. Idaho will play in the New Mexico Thanksgiving Tournament with Pepperdine, Morehead State and New Mexico on Nov. 25 and 26 before returning home to host Washington in Memorial Gym on Nov. 30 at 5:30 p.m. That game is the first half of a doubleheader as the Idaho men's team will host Eastern Washington at 8 p.m. that night.
