Despite slow start, Idaho still confident heading into home stretch
After a winless road trip where the Vandals gave up 13 3-pointers to Northern Colorado in a 72-50 loss Saturday, returning back to the friendly confines of the Cowan Spectrum might be what the Idaho women’s basketball team needs as it prepares for a rematch against Eastern Washington.
“It’s a nice time to be back obviously,” Idaho coach Jon Newlee said. “We practice, get some things straightened out hopefully and get ready to defend our home floor.”
Despite the tough losses over the weekend, the Vandals aren’t hanging their heads.
“It is good to know that even though we didn’t shoot as well as we could, we know we can,” sophomore guard Karlee Wilson said. “If we shot as good as we can, we would’ve been right in that game.”
Idaho allowed 10 3s in the first half alone against Northern Colorado. Senior guard Stacey Barr, the Big Sky’s leading scorer, said this week’s practice is all about defense.
Barr struggled with an illness over the break, which hampered her on the court. With Barr struggling, the Vandals got a lift from junior 3-point specialist Christina Salvatore.
“It was nice to see her do it,” Newlee said of Salvatore. “Now she has to do it consistently, and that is what I told her yesterday when we met.”
Salvatore, who is in the process of rewriting Idaho’s 3-point record book, said she knew it was time for her to step up after talking with Newlee.
“Me and coach have talked about it a bunch,” Salvatore said. “I am a junior now, I have started almost every game I have played here and he kind of talked to me about stepping up and being more aggressive, staying positive and just being that leader when things aren’t going great.”
The struggles and slow starts the Vandals have endured this season are a far cry from last season, in which Idaho ran through the WAC enroute to regular season and conference tournament champions.
This year is much like two years ago, Newlee said, when the Vandals first came onto the scene, during the freshman season for Salvatore, Ali Forde and Connie Ballestero — three of Idaho’s starting five. That year, they had to fight just to get into the conference tournament, but the adversity they faced will hopefully help them prepare for the conference tournament again this season, Newlee said.
They are getting each team’s best effort every game and the team just has to play up to those expectations, Wilson said.
The players and coaches have continuously said they knew there was a target on their back coming into the season.
The adversity could be looked at as a motivating factor, and could be good for the team in the long run, Newlee said. They have played in plenty of big games, so he said they are ready for it.
“I think it is a motivating factor, I don’t think they are nervous,” he said. “They have been through a lot of big games in the last two years. I think they understand what it takes to be a championship team … I think it motivates them.”
Joshua Gamez can be reached at [email protected]