Women’s season ends in Vegas — Women’s basketball ousted in Semifinals

For the third straight year, the Idaho women’s basketball team got a win in the WAC Tournament, but the season ended on a loss as the Vandals fell in the semifinal round to Fresno State.

Ilya Pinchuk | uiargonaut.com Adrie Shiels splits two defenders and puts in a lay up against San Jose State in the first round of the WAC Tournament. The Vandals defeated San Jose State 67-63, but were swept out of the tournament in the second round by eventual tournament champion Fresno State.

After surging toward the end of the season, Idaho entered the tournament with the No. 4 seed to face No. 5 San Jose State in the first round. The Vandals emerged victorious 67-63, completing a three-game season-sweep of the Spartans.
After the game, Newlee said he was proud of how his squad continued to fight.
“I’m proud of the way we hung tough,” Newlee said. “We got out to that lead and we kept it. We haven’t had a lot of leads this year that we had to preserve.”
After a back and forth start to the game, the Vandals went on a 3-point frenzy and took a commanding lead. Idaho led by as many as 19 points in the first half, but the Spartans came back in the second to make it a close contest. San Jose State cut the deficit to three with less than a minute to play in the game, but freshman Krissy Karr hit a pair of free throws to secure the win for Idaho.
Newlee said the end of the game was a matter of survival.
“A win’s a win,” Newlee said. “I can’t remember who said it, but ‘survive and advance,’ and that’s what happened out there tonight.”
Newlee also said his young team started the game a little nervous.
“Our team is extremely young,” Newlee said. “You look at them and they haven’t been in this position before. It’s a lot of their first WAC Tournament and there’s a lot on the line. I thought I saw those nerves tonight.”
With the win, the Vandals got their third WAC Tournament victory in as many years and advanced to the semifinals where they met No.1 seeded Fresno State, who worked Idaho 80-55.
The Bulldogs controlled the floor from the tip and went on a 20-0 run to start the game. Fresno State held Idaho scoreless through the first nine minutes of play. The Vandals had a few small runs, but each attempt at a comeback was quickly stomped out by Fresno State. In the second half the Bulldogs coasted to a blowout victory and advance to the finals, ending Idaho’s season.
Fresno State went on to win the WAC Tournament for a second consecutive year beating La Tech for the second straight time in the finals.
Newlee said his team was unable to shake off its slow start.
“Obviously the game didn’t go the way we planned it,” Newlee said. “The tone was set early when we missed layups from point-blank and they went down and converted. That kind of fed their fire a little bit.”
Idaho sophomore Alyssa Charlston, who was named to the All-WAC First-Team before the tournament, was honored again by being named to the all-tournament team. Charlston netted double-doubles in both WAC Tournament games Idaho played and is only the third Vandal in history to be given the honor. Kevin Bingaman can be reached at
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