CHENEY, Wash.—The #RoadToReno got off to a bit of a rocky start for the reigning 2016 conference champions. The Vandals women's basketball team dropped its first Big Sky Conference game, 67-57, at Eastern Washington on Saturday.
How it Happened
You never know what to expect when Idaho and Eastern Washington meet on the hardwood. EWU opened up a 22-point lead, only to have Idaho trim the deficit down to six in the final minutes of the fourth quarter.
Geraldine McCorkell and
Mikayla Ferenz led the offense for Idaho. McCorkell lead Idaho with 12 points to go with six rebounds. Ferenz closed the night with 11 points, all in the second half, and five boards before fouling out late in the fourth. Ashlie Payne led all players, scoring a game-high 21 points for EWU.
Neither team got off to a hot start inside Reese Court. McCorkell scored the game's first points at the 7:45 mark. Eastern Washington would get the next five, before a
Brooke Reilly jumper cut the Eagle lead down to one, 5-4, with 4:12 to go in the quarter.
Taylor Pierce hit a pair of free throws to put Idaho back in front, 7-6. McCorkell closed the quarter with a three to put Idaho up 10-9.
Eastern Washington (6-6, 1-0 BSC) upped the stakes in the second quarter, holding Idaho to just six points in the period. The Eagles totaled 21 points in the frame, taking a 30-16 lead into the half.
Idaho (5-7, 0-1 BSC) outscored EWU in the second half, 41-37. The Vandals worked to cut the Eastern lead down to 11 by the end of the third quarter.
Karlee Wilson and Ferenz both notched six points in the quarter. The Vandals shot 4-for-7 from behind the arc to help the recovery.
The Vandals got good production in the fourth from their bench. Baskets from
Agueda Trujillo and
Sue Winger helped cut the EWU lead to eight, 55-47, with 8:28 to play. A Pierce 3 with 4:39 on the clock brought the Vandals to within seven, 59-52. Idaho slimmed the Eagle lead down to six with 2:30 to play thanks to a McCorkell layin. The comeback fell short in the end, as EWU hit enough free throws down the stretch to hold off Idaho.
Turning Point
The Vandals opened the second quarter with back-to-back 3's from
Sue Winger and
Taylor Pierce, but that was be the end of Idaho's scoring for the quarter. Up 16-11 with 8:54 to play, EWU ran off the next 19 points, taking a 30-16 lead at the half. The Vandals were 0-16 from the field, following Pierce's 3.
Notes
Idaho is now 3-6 in conference openers under Coach Newlee…the Vandals closed December with a 3-4 record…Idaho has hit a 3-pointer in 273 consecutive games…Idaho's 21 turnovers were the most this season…Idaho's also had a season-high 25 fouls…Pierce finished with two 3's giving her 116 for her career, 10th in school history…Ferenz was left without a 3 on Saturday, breaking a seven-game 3-point streak.
Quotes
Head Coach Jon Newlee
On overall play
"Obviously it was one of the worst first halves of the season. Then we got ourselves in some serious foul trouble. We have not had that problem all season. We did not adjust to that [foul trouble] real well. Our bench did not come in strong like we needed them to and that really hurt us in the second quarter."
On the second quarter struggles
"We just fizzled out. I thought we got really tentative. We kept putting them [EWU] on the foul line, but then not getting there ourselves. That is usually how you get big runs. It really cost us. We had three starts on the bench watching the action. We needed people to step up and that did not happen tonight."
On second half play
"I told them at the team at halftime, 'You have 20 minutes. You cannot worry about what is going on out there. You just need to play through everything and be aggressive.' We needed to adjust to the way the game was being called. Eastern did and we did not. That cost us in the second quarter. In the second half we just decided to go out and play. We played a heck of a lot better, but our hole was too big from that first half."
On moving forward
"We have been on the road a lot, but that is the way it goes. Nobody is feeling sorry for the Vandals. We are going to have to get out and work hard in practice these next few days and get ready for the Griz. They play extremely well at home in that environment. Then we head to Montana State. In my opinion we have three of the toughest venues on the road, throw in North Dakota too. We will just have to be ready for it. We will need to be a lot tougher mentally on this road trip."
Upcoming
Idaho will stay on the road and take on both Montana schools. The Vandals open up next week at Montana next Thursday. The Lady Griz are 0-2 in Big Sky play to start the season. They lost to both Idaho State and Weber State in the first week of play. Idaho will be at Montana State on Saturday. The Bobcats are 1-1 after the first week of Big Sky play, winning at Weber State.
For more information on Idaho Athletics, visit GoVandals.com. Fans can also follow Idaho women's basketball on Twitter, @VandalsWBB.
