MOSCOW, Idaho – The Vandal women's basketball team fought to the very end on Friday night at Oregon. Kennedy Johnson led the Vandals with 15 points on the night as the Vandals fell 59-51.
Idaho put up a strong fight against the Pac-12 team, but at the end of the day, size and fouls were the difference makers. The Vandals were sent to the free throw line only once and missed the attempt while the Ducks went 18-26 from the charity stripe. The Vandals were scrappy, doubling Oregon's points off turnovers (14-7) as they forced 12 turnovers total.
Johnson shot 7-13 from the field tonight and was joined by Hope Butera in the double digits. Butera was forced into a new shooting role tonight, attempting four shots from beyond the arc and draining three of them. Before tonight, Butera had not made a three-pointer at the Division I level and had only attempted at most one in a single game. Oregon's 6'8" center was unstoppable, grabbing her sixth double-double of the season (16pts, 17rbds).
Both teams got into the groove of the game in the first quarter as the Ducks took the lead at 5:07. The first five minutes however, were a back-and-forth between the squads and the Vandals had their only lead of the game at the one-minute mark. Idaho's shots were not falling as they hoped, as they shot 6-18 (33.3%) from the field meanwhile the Ducks went 7-11 (63.6%).
The Ducks pulled further away from the Vandals in the second quarter, earning their biggest lead of the game at 10 points. The Vandals only scored nine to Oregon's 13 points. While the score may not have shown it, Idaho's defense stepped up and forced shots under pressure decreasing the Ducks' shooting percentage down to 38.5% (5-13).
At half, Johnson led Idaho with eight points followed by Butera with five. While the Ducks dominated in the paint scoring 16 points, the Vandals had the edge with seven points off turnovers and five points on fast breaks.
Things started clicking for Idaho in the third quarter as they went on a seven-score run and outscored the Ducks 18-14 in the period. Johnson led with seven points going 3-6 from the field and 1-3 from three. Five of the ten points were scored in transition on the fast breaks and two off a turnover. The Vandals shot 8-18 (44.4%) from the field and 2-7 (28.6%) from three. The lone free throw attempt was taken by Amalie Langer in the period.
Idaho came up short in the final quarter coming up short on too many shots. The defense made up for the lack of shots as much as they could, but the established lead for the Ducks was enough for them to hold on. Butera led with eight points while Idaho shot 5-13 from the field and 2-7 from three. The Ducks were unsuccessful from the field, shooting on 3-12 but created a nice cushion by shooting 10-10 from the free throw line.
Idaho gets a little break this upcoming week with finals. They will return to action in the ICCU Arena on Dec. 17th hosting Grand Canyon University at 2 PM.
