OGDEN, Utah—The Idaho women's basketball team fought through another first-half offensive slump Saturday afternoon on its way to a 67-60 win over Weber State at the Dee Events Center. Idaho improves to 1-1 in Big Sky play and 7-6 overall. Saturday's win was also number 100 at Idaho for head coach Jon Newlee.

“It is a great accomplishment,” Newlee said. “It just means I have been around for a long time already. It is a reflection of all the great players that we have been able to bring in here. They are the ones out there doing the work.”

Stacey Barr led the Vandal offense, matching her season-high in scoring with 31 points. Barr, coming off a five-point performance against Idaho State, shot 8-for-14 from the field and drilled 4-of-7 shots from long distance. The Aussie standout also snagged 10 rebounds for her 20th career double-double, while dishing out a game-high six assists.

“Monster game from Stacey,” Newlee exclaimed. “It was great to see her back. Bad game happen. She played hard today. She got people involved and rebounded. Stacey did all the things Stacey does. She was the Western Athletic Conference Player of the Year for a reason. She can do this against Baylor, she can do it against Weber, she can have this kind of game against anybody.”

Idaho started 0-for-5 from the field fighting off demons of a poor offensive performance Thursday night at Idaho State. Down 5-0 early to the Wildcats, Barr broke the lock on the basket with a three-pointer at the 16:37 mark. She cut the Weber State lead to one at 7-6 with Idaho's second three-point field goal of the half with 14:32 to play. By the 13:17 mark Idaho had put together an 8-0 to gain an 11-7 lead. Christina Salvatore hit an open three aided by five points from Barr as the Vandals' offense shifted into gear.

The Vandal defense broke out of its shell as well in the first 20 minutes. Idaho held Weber State to just 20 points in the opening half, shooting 21.1 percent from the field (8-for-38). The Silver and Gold forced seven turnovers in the opening half, leading to nine Idaho points. Ali Forde asserted her presence down low with four first-half blocks.

“Our defense came out feisty this afternoon,” Newlee noted. “I thought our zone was great. They [Weber State] were getting some second shots and in a zone sometimes it is hard to block out. I really enjoyed our intensity in the first half though.”

Weber State (5-8, 0-2) trimmed Idaho's nine-point halftime-lead to three at 32-29 to start the second half. Barr took control, scoring the next five points to get back to the nine-point advantage five minutes into the half. Barr scored 18 second-half points, including a three-pointer with 8:31 on the clock that gave the Vandals a 17-point lead at 50-33.

The Wildcats would not crumble. A Brittney Dunbar three kickstarted a 9-0 Wildcat run to trim Idaho's lead to 50-43 with 5:57 to play. A pair of Barr free-throws put a brief end to WSU's run, but the Wildcats would trim the Vandals lead to four with 1:24 remaining.

“To their credit, Weber really made some long-distance three's,” Newlee pointed out. “We have not had a close game for a long time. We seemed to be playing scared for some reason. We were playing not to lose. The team responded well after my timeout. We are a team of fighters and we cannot get in that mentality of playing back on our heels.”

The Wildcats got key baskets in the final minutes from Jalen Carpenter and Dunbar that brought Weber State to within three points with 26 seconds to play. Barr drilled two shots from the line to get back up by five. Regina Okoye's layup to cut the lead back to three was off the mark and Geraldine McCorkell was there for to snag the rebound for Idaho with four seconds to play. She was fouled and sent to the line with two seconds on the clock, sealing the Idaho victory.

Barr was the only Vandal to hit double digits on the day. Salvatore finished with nine points and seven boards. Forde's defense had her flirting with a triple-double in the second half, before getting into foul trouble. She finished with eight points, eight rebounds and six blocks.

Idaho returns to action on Saturday when they head west to Cheney, Wash., to take on the Eastern Washington Eagles. The Vandals first Big Sky home-game will come on Jan. 15 when they take on Sacramento State.