MOSCOW, Idaho – The Vandal Women's basketball team opened the 2023-2024 season with a 92-50 victory against Walla Walla in the ICCU Arena on Monday night. Kennedy Johnson helped lead the Vandals to victory scoring a career-high 18 points. Carrie Eighmey earned her first win as a Vandal head coach in her debut game.
The night was full of firsts as seven players made their debut as Vandals. Five players scored career-highs and four found double-digits on the night. True freshman, Aspen Caldwell, drained 13 points and led the team with five assists in her first-ever collegiate game. Hope Butera dominated the boards and led with nine rebounds.
The first quarter saw a close battle with the Vandals reaching their largest lead of just five points. Caldwell made her first career appearance and went 4-4 at the free throw line. Johnson scored her first points as a Vandal and led the offensive attack scoring seven points. Idaho saw a perfect quarter at the free throw line going 9-9.
The second quarter began with back-to-back threes from Ashlyn Wallace to put the Vandals up by nine points. The team continued the momentum and led for the entirety of the quarter. Butera scored her first points as a Vandal and was fierce under the basket collecting eight rebounds.
The Vandals entered the locker room with a 41-34 lead. Johnson led the team with 11 points and she shot 40% (4-10) from the field. The Vandals were strong on the free throw line shooting 100% (11-11) in the first half. The Wolves did not find as much success on the line as they shot 25% (1-4) off of just four opportunities.
The third quarter began with the Wolves being held scoreless for nearly three minutes. Johnson drained a shot behind the arc to surpass her previous career-high of 16 points. The Vandals pulled away and took a 38-point lead, their largest yet in the game. Another standout performance came from Caldwell who put up five points in the quarter.
Idaho did not let up and they finished out a 19-point run in the beginning of the fourth quarter. The Vandals owned the backboards grabbing 16 rebounds compared to the Wolves four. Michala Bork and Georgia Gray scored their first career points as Vandals and Skylar Bea scored a career-high six points.
The Vandals shot 45.7% (32-70) from the field, 52.9% (9-17) from three-point range, and 76% (19-25) from the free throw line. Walla Walla shot only 39.6% (19-48) from the field, 39.1% from three-point range, and 30.0% (3-10) from the free throw line. Idaho capitalized on turnovers scoring 28 points compared to Walla Walla with just five. The Vandals also dominated in the paint putting up 42 points with the Wolves finding only 14. The Vandal defense was relentless, only giving up one point off second-chance shots while the offense fought to earn 18 points.
