STATS
RENO, Nev. – A slow start proved to be too much to overcome as Idaho fell to Eastern Washington, 73-64, in the quarterfinals of the Big Sky Tournament on Wednesday at the Reno Events Center.
The first quarter set the tone for the game, with the Vandals missing their first seven field goal attempts and EWU jumping out to an early 8-0 lead. The Idaho offense eventually got going with sophomore
Mikayla Ferenz scoring all eight points for the Vandals in the first quarter. Idaho chipped away at the deficit in the second, winning the quarter 21-19, but still trailed 34-29 at the break.
Idaho (17-14) continued to work in the third quarter.
Brooke Reilly cut the lead down to three in the first minute of the half. The Vandals kept the deficit to within a couple of buckets for most of the third, but the Eagles broke away at the end of the quarter to take a 10-point lead into the fourth.
Neither squad could gain much rhythm in the final frame, with both teams spending a lot of time at the free throw line.EWU got up by 15 with three minutes to play in the quarter.
Taylor Pierce hits a 3-pointer that brought Idaho back to within seven, 69-62, with 1:08 to play.
Ferenz had a solid evening, finishing with 23 points on 8-of-20 shooting. She also grabbed five boards and dished out a pair of assists.
Idaho finished 9-of-31 (29.0%) from beyond the arc, compared to 11-of-25 (44.0%) by EWU. The Vandals shot 35.9 percent (23-of-64) from the field and were outrebounded 49-34.
Delaney Hodgins led a pack of EWU scorers in double figures. She finished with 23, while Tisha Phillips and Violet Kapri Morrow closed with 19 and 15, respectively.
Turning Point
Despite the slow start to the contest the Vandals got right back into the action in the third. Reilly cut the deficit to three with the first basket of the quarter. EWU answered right back with an 10-2 run, putting Idaho back down by double digits, 44-33.
Notes
Idaho's first conference tournament loss since losing to Nevada in the 2011 WAC Tournament, breaking a 10-game streak...Idaho has now hit a 3-pointer in 292 consecutive games…sixth time this season Idaho had scored just eight points in a quarter, second fewest this season (six in the second quarter at EWU)...Idaho tied a season-low with seven turnovers…Ferenz moves into ninth on Idaho's single season scoring list with 558 points this season…Pierce with 167 career 3's fifth all-time…Ferenz now has 161 career 3's seventh all-time.
Quotes
Head Coach Jon Newlee
On overall thoughts
"I thought we came out very unaggressive offensively in our attack mode. I thought we were kind of flat for some reason. We always talk about attacking and attacking down hill and that was not really happening for in that first quarter. We have seen pressure before. Eastern plays very good defense. Wendy [Schuller] does a fantastic job with them, no doubt about that. I just thought we would come out with more energy, especially the way we played on Monday. We played great, moving the basketball against the same kind of pressure. I think some of our players were tight. Every time we have had a game where we were supposed to win--I know we were the No. 5 seed, but we just beat them by 27--we have not executed. We were picked to win the conference and played like this in Cheney to open conference play. Unfortunately, some of our players are not used to that kind of pressure and spotlight. They did not respond well to that."
On Karlee Wilson
"It is extremely hard to say goodbye if this is the last game. She has been such a huge part of our program. I knew the day that Karlee committed to us as a junior that we were going to win championships at Idaho. Karlee is a winner. She lost like three game her whole summer season with Mikayla's team and all those guys that played with the NW Blazers. She is the ultimate winner. She is the ultimate competitor and the ultimate fighter. I wish I had 15 players that played as hard every day at practice, every day at games and every day in the offseason. I would be blessed as a coach to have 15 of those people, but I feel blessed because I had one. She is the greatest example there is for what you can do when you are not 6'1'' or 6'2'' in this game. What you can do with what God gave her, it is unbelievable. She is one of the greatest players I have ever coached and ever had the pleasure of coaching. I love Karlee Wilson and I would love to have 15 of her every day of my life. I would keep coaching until I am 100."
Mikayla Ferenz
On Karlee Wilson
"I have known Karlee for years. She was one of the main reasons I came here. She just works her butt off all the time. She leads by example, but is also a great leader. She is always keeping it positive on the floor. It is going to be really hard without her because she does all those little things for our team. It is going to be really hard not to have her next year."
