Tony Marcolina | Argonaut
Forward Alyssa Charlston practices her 3-point shots during practice Nov. 5 in the Physical Education Building Gym. The Vandals play Mount Saint Mary’s at 5:30 p.m. Friday at Chicago, Ill.
After a back-and-forth opening loss at No. 25 Gonzaga on Saturday, the Idaho women’s basketball team returns to the court Friday to play Mount Saint Mary’s in Chicago. The Vandals wrap up play in the Preseason WNIT consolation round Saturday against either Loyola or Indiana-Purdue Fort Wayne.
The opening 64-56 loss at Gonzaga had some positives and negatives for the Vandals. The team had great 3-point shooting to start the second half and take a lead over Gonzaga, but foul trouble and poor defensive rebounding hurt the Vandals late in the game.
“I thought we played extremely hard,” Idaho coach Jon Newlee said. “I was real happy with our effort, not our execution. Being the first game, it’s always going to be rusty but I thought effort-wise we did a great job of going out (and) implementing our game plan.”
One of the bright spots for the Vandals in their season opener was guard Christina Salvatore. The sophomore had 14 points and four 3-pointers on the night — most of which came in the second half.
“We were fired up at halftime. Even though we had really poor first-half shooting … we were confident in the plays we were running,” Salvatore said. “I’ve always got confidence in our shooters. We can always knock ‘em down when we need ‘em.”
Idaho’s next opponent, the Mount Saint Mary’s Mountaineers, have lost two games in the Preseason WNIT, so far. They opened the season with an 85-57 loss to Saint Joseph’s followed by a close 83-82 loss at No. 23 Davidson. Like the Vandals, the Mountaineers return most of their top scorers from last season.
“They’re a very talented team, they return a lot of starters,” Newlee said of Mount Saint Mary’s. “We have to stay out of foul trouble, we have to shoot the ball better on the road and we have to rebound better.”
The Vandals head into the game against the Mountaineers without one of their key players, Ali Forde. Forde, a sophomore forward and a dual-sport athlete, played with the Idaho volleyball team Thursday at Chicago State.
“It’s going to be hard for us without Ali this weekend,” Newlee said. “She’s on the volleyball trip and won’t be playing with us. That takes away a huge presence for us on the inside as well as depth at the post.”
The Vandals will also have to deal with the fatigue of playing games on consecutive days with less depth but Newlee said his team has no excuses.
“Everyone else is going to have to step up,” he said. “Some people who maybe haven’t contributed as much are going to have to step in and do their job and play well for us to win.”
Stephan Wiebe can be reached at [email protected].