RUSTON, La. - The Idaho women's basketball team was able to cut a 13-point halftime deficit to just six in the second half against Louisiana Tech, but couldn't get any closer as the Lady Techsters used a 16-3 run to seal a 66-54 victory in the Western Athletic Conference opener for both teams.
"We came out intimidated," Idaho coach Jon Newlee said. "They really came out intimidated and that disappoints me. We talked at halftime about not being scared and just playing ball, and you see what happens when we did that at the start of the second half."
Idaho went on a 9-2 run to open the second half after trailing 36-23 at halftime before the Lady Techsters put together the decisive run of their own.
The Vandals (5-12, 0-1 WAC) committed 23 turnovers in the game which LA Tech (8-8, 1-0 WAC) converted into 17 points. Idaho held LA Tech to 32.4 percent shooting from the field, but shot just 32.7 percent themselves and hit just 12-of-22 shots from the free throw line.
"I thought our defense was outstanding to go out there and play 40 minutes man-to-man against Louisiana Tech," Newlee said. "We knew we had some good looks that just weren't going down early on, but our free throw shooting has got to get better. It was just a lack of knocking down some shots, one person getting hot and it's a different ballgame."
Idaho turned away 15 LA Tech shots in the game, two shy of the program record for blocks in a single game. Sophomore Ashley Walters had seven of those blocks, one away from her career high, and Alyssa Charlston added five. Charlston also notched her fourth double-double of the season with 13 points and 10 rebounds, as she hit 4-of-15 shots from the field and 5-of-11 free throws.
Stacey Barr was the only other Idaho player to score in double figures, as she finished with 11 points on 4-of-13 shooting including 2-of-8 from long range. Barr added seven rebounds in the contest, Keri Arendse had six points and seven rebounds, and Walters added four points and eight boards to her seven blocks.
LA Tech's bench did a lot of the work, scoring 37 of the team's 66 points. Angie Felton had 11 of those and Tavasha Anderson added 10. The Lady Techsters were led in scoring by Shantale Bramble-Donaldson, who scored 12 points and added four rebounds.
Idaho wraps up its WAC-opening road trip with a visit to New Mexico State on Jan 14. The Vandals swept the Aggies last season, and will look to get to an even .500 in conference play with a 2:30 tipoff on Saturday.
