Fans sent rally towels flying at Friday's women's basketball game against Washington providing key moral support for the Vandals' first home game of the season.

Yelling, shouting and clapping echoed through Memorial Gym until the final buzzer The Vandals battled back and forth with Washington, feeding off the energy from the crowd. Idaho supporters of all ages yelled and rallied for the women's team.

Idaho head coach Jon Newlee said this crowd was key for moral and appreciates the crowd's rowdy support.

"It was nice to have that crowd," he said. "Everybody that showed up, I hope they come back."

Newlee said the team gains energy from the crowd when they're excited.

"We made a couple of those runs and I think they felt it," he said. "They knew the crowd was getting behind them."

Newlee said the goal is to create a true home court advantage, in the Memorial Gym and the Cowan Spectrum.

"We get into conference, we're going to need that fan support. We want to have that good home court advantage," he said. "There's a lot of teams in our league, they got great support and we need to have that same advantage."

Junior guard Taylor Pierce said she is thankful for the crowd's support.

"It felt nice to have the crowd on your side for once," she said. "We've been in some pretty tough places to play and they haven't been on our side. We feed of the energy that the crowd gives us."