MAUI, Hawaii—The Idaho Vandals dropped its fifth consecutive contest Saturday night to close out the Mai Wahine Classic. UNLV used late second-chance opportunities to squander Idaho's season-high 16 3-pointers, edging the Vandals 73-61.
Win-Loss Records
Idaho falls to 2-5 on the season, while UNLV improves to 6-1. The loss for Idaho marks the first time since the 2011-12 season that the team has dropped five straight games.
Turning Point(s)
The Vandals trailed, 35-33, after the first two quarters. Idaho recovered from a slow start, scoring just three points in the game's first seven minutes. The Vandals outscored the Lady Rebels 22-13 in the second quarter to minimize the UNLV advantage.
Idaho opened the third quarter with four 3-pointers to go take a four-point lead, 45-41. The Vandals held the lead for a majority of the third quarter, keeping UNLV in check until the final two minutes. UNLV put together a quick 7-2 spurt to close the quarter with the 51-47 lead.
Idaho cut the UNLV lead down to three with 5:32 to play in the fourth, but that would be as close it would get the rest of the way. The Vandal offense shot 2-for-11 down the stretch and UNLV went on a 6-0 run in the final 1:29 to close out the Vandals.
Top Performers
Geraldine McCorkell led Idaho with 14 points on the night. She hit 4-of-12 from behind the 3-point line, career-highs in both categories.
Brooke Reilly added 12 points, totaling three 3's on the night. She also led Vandals with six rebounds.
Karlee Wilson was Idaho's third double-figure scorer. She wet 4-of-9 from the field to finish with 10 points.
Coach Newlee
"UNLV is pretty big inside. You have to block them out. You have to make somebody come over the back, which they will do. We did not give the effort down there. We do not get any offensive boards, because our effort really lacked going to the glass. That has to change. UNLV played harder than we did. They wanted it more than we did in that fourth quarter and that has to change going into the Big Sky."
"Without a doubt [we hold them] to one shot possessions we win this game. We were clicking big time on offense in that third quarter. We just kept giving them rebound after rebound and they kept hanging around because of those chances."
"I thought we did a really good job of executing our offense in the second and third. We were getting all the looks we wanted. We ran our sets and ran our plays great. The results were great. We got some fantastic open looks. Defensively, we just could not shut them down."
Up Next
Idaho will continue on the road, playing its final game in the current eight-game road swing to start the season. The Vandals will be in Laramie, Wyo., to take on the Wyoming Cowgirls on Dec. 9 for a 5:30 p.m. PT tip.
For more information on Idaho Athletics, visit GoVandals.com. Fans can also follow Idaho women's basketball on Twitter, @VandalsWBB.
Note: Official stats were unavailable at the time of this posting, due to issues in Maui. Full box score is now available at the above link.
