MISSOULA, Mont.—Stacey Barr was the driving force behind the Vandal offense, particularly in the second half Thursday night against Montana. The reigning co-Big Sky Player of the Week scored 17 in the final 20 minutes of Idaho's 81-68 loss at Dahlberg Arena. Barr finished with a game-high 24.
Idaho faced its kiss of death this season, trailing 32-30 after the first half. The Silver and Gold have yet to win this season when trailing at the half (0-12).
Montana (20-7, 13-3) relinquished the lead twice early on in the second half. Barr hit a 3-pointer to open the half, putting Idaho up, 33-32, with 49 seconds gone. Maggie Rickman's jumper inside the paint pushed the Lady Griz back out in front 34-33 with 18:15 to play. Barr again answered for the Vandals, retaking the lead at 35-34 with 16:52 to go. Montana jumped back out in front, 40-35, before Idaho head coach Jon Newlee took a timeout with 16:14 remaining.
“We had the lead and had momentum on our side,” Newlee said. “We had some breakdowns defensively. We ended up getting some fouls and they [Montana] made their and-1 opportunities and hit some threes. You cannot beat the No. 1 team in the conference on the road by shooting 14-of-26 from the free-throw line and giving up all the offensive boards we did tonight.”
Idaho (12-14, 6-9) got another three from Barr following the timeout, to cut Montana's lead to 40-37. Barr scored Idaho's first 10 points of the second half, before Christina Salvatore hit a long-range jumper with 13:55 on the clock. Karlee Wilson cut the Lady Griz lead to two at 48-46, but Montana's Alycia Sims immediately answered with two of her own. Sims scored 10 points in the second half for Montana. She hit a pair of free throws at the 7:51 mark that sparked an 8-0 run to get Montana's lead to a 14 points lead at 69-55. A 6-0 run for the Lady Griz put Idaho down by 15 with 1:10 to play.
Montana outscored Idaho 15-7 off second-chance opportunities. The Lady Griz totaled 13 offensive rebounds, seven in the second half. Five players for Montana finished in with double-figures. McCalle Feller led the home team with 18 points. Alycia Sims totaled a career-high 14 points off the bench. She entered the game averaging 3.5 points per game.
“Montana did a good job getting offensive rebounds and 50/50 balls,” Newlee noted. “We did not get our 50/50 balls tonight. I talked in the locker room about playing hard. Montana is trying to win a championship and we are trying to crack the tournament. At times we did not get after like we needed to.”
Salvatore hit a pair of 3-pointers to lead the Vandals' first-half charge. Idaho was down 10 with 7:30 left in the half, finishing with a 43.5 field goal percentage in the first 20 minutes. Idaho hit 10 shots from the floor, while Montana managed to convert 13-of-35 first-half attempts to gain the two-point advantage.
Brooke Reilly and Salvatore finished the night alongside Barr in double-figures. Reilly was 3-for-5 shooting for 11 points. Salvatore closed the night with an even 10. Ali Forde totaled a game-high 14 rebounds and Wilson led the team with six assists.
The Vandals now face must-win scenarios to close the season. Up next is Montana State on Saturday. The Bobcats jumped ahead of Idaho with a win over Eastern Washington on Thursday. MSU is currently eighth in the conference with Idaho behind them in ninth.
“We got to win games,” Newlee stated. “We have three left and it looks like we need to win all three. It is out of our hands with what other teams are doing, but we can control what we can do.”
First tip on Saturday is set for 1 p.m. PT. The game will be streamed on WatchBigSky.com and broadcast along the Vandal Radio Networks.
Notes:
Idaho has hit a 3-point field goal in 224 consecutive games…Idaho is now 7-8 in black this season…the team falls to 3-9 following a win…Geraldine McCorkell extended her free-throw streak to 28 before missing her third attempt of the night…Barr passed former teammate Alyssa Charlston for fifth all-time with 602 career field goals…Connie Ballestero tied Robin Behrens for ninth all-time with 331 career assists.
