NORTHRIDGE, Calif.—The start to the 2014-15 season for the Idaho Vandals women's basketball team was not exactly how head coach Jon Newlee had pictured. The Vandals fell in a battle of two 2014 NCAA Tournament teams, 67-50, at CSUN.
“We were our own worst enemy in that first half” Newlee said. “Give credit to CSUN. They are a great team. I also felt that a lot of what happened in the first 20 minutes was due to what we were doing, not exactly what they were doing. We had way too much ball stoppage, trying to take people off the dribble. Everybody was trying to make their own play instead of making the extra pass.”
The Matadors opened the game on an 11-0 run as the Vandals started 0-for-9 from the field. Idaho finally got on the board off a Geraldine McCorkell layup at the 12:40 mark in the half. Stacey Barr netted Idaho's second field goal of the half, bringing the score to 22-5 with 6:55 to play in the half. The Vandals finished the half shooting a lowly 13.3 percent from the field and 8.3 percent from long range. CSUN forced 13 Idaho turnovers in the opening 20 minutes.
CSUN (1-0) did not fare all that well at the start of the game either. The Matadors scored the game's first points off of two Ashlee Guay free throws just over a minute into the game. Idaho held CSUN scoreless until the game's first field goal by Camille Mahlknecht at the 16:48 mark. The Vandals were within eight at 11-3, before a Janae Sharpe three got the ball rolling for the Matador offense. A Randi Friess three-pointer with 3:40 to play in the first gave CSUN at 19 point first-half lead, before Idaho could get narrow it down to 15 points with 12 seconds left in the half. Sharpe dribbled down court and hit a buzzer-beating three, extending CSUN's lead to 32-14 at the break.
“We talked about trusting each other at halftime,” Newlee disclosed. “Passing the ball around and making that extra pass is what has made us a great team over the last few years. We needed to get back to playing our game and not the game they [CSUN] wanted us to play.”
Idaho (0-1) came out in the second half and found themselves down by 24 points with 17:18 to play. Christina Salvatore kickstarted the Vandal offense with a three-pointer and Barr matched the shot the next time down the court, narrowing the CSUN lead to 49-32 with 12:12 to play. A Barr layup with 4:23 remaining on the clock brought the Silver and Gold to within 13 points at 61-48. The Vandals outscored the Matadors in the second half, 36-35, but were unable to trim the lead any further.
“It was good to see us get in our rhythm and not spend 40 minutes doing what we did in the first 20,” Newlee added. “We cut it to 13 and had a great look to cut it to 10. It was a great comeback and I think we showed a lot of heart. It would have been easy to say 'it just was not our day.'”
Barr finished the game with a team-high 18 points, after tailing just two in the first half. She fouled out of the game with her 18th career double-double with 59 seconds left in the game, snagging a game-high 11 rebounds. McCorkell finished the day 4-of-8 from the field for 10 points in her first career game. Salvatore added nine points on the day, while Reilly finished the game with seven.
CSUN's Sharpe led all scorers with 25 points.
“It is the first game of the year,” Newlee remarked. “We are not hanging our heads. This was a team that won their league and went to the NCAA Tournament. We just need to learn from the first half and get back to what really works for us.”
Idaho will travel a short while up California coast to take on UC Santa Barbara on Monday. Opening tip is set for 7 p.m. PT.
Notes:
The Vandals have now with a three-point shot in 200 consecutive games, dating back to 2008…Idaho is 0-3 in its last three season-openers, making the NCAA Tournament the past two seasons…Salvatore has now hit a three-pointer in 14 consecutive games…Barr now has 197 career three-pointers closing in on second all-time in program history.
