As she has gained confidence in the last month of the season, University of Idaho junior Lindsey Koppen has been a constant force behind the basketball team’s offense.
She put on a career performance during the first-round of the Western Athletic Conference tournament, Tuesday in Las Cruces, N.M., by leading all scorers with her career-high 22 points. Koppen who is from Missoula, Mont., went 7-15 from the field, with five baskets from beyond 3-point range.
The No. 9-ranked Vandals fell short however, with a 72-66 lost to the Spartans of San Jose State, who were ranked one spot higher.
Idaho finished the season at 6-22. San Jose State will play the top-seeded Boise State Broncos in the quarterfinal round Thursday.
For the second time in three days, the UI women’s basketball team played San Jose State down to the end. On March 3, senior night for the Vandals, the game ended a seven-game losing streak for Idaho with a 69-66 win, and brought that momentum into the tournament. San Jose State lost the regular-season series 2-0 to the Vandals, but at tournament time teams start back on even ground.

“Not to take anything away from San Jose State, but if you look at the shooting percentages it was more about our undoing,” Idaho coach Mike Divilbiss said. “We got some great looks; we just couldn’t get them to go in the basket. We got the stops we needed. It was more about us not finishing our chances. Tonight, we just couldn’t make them.”
The game was tied at 34 at halftime. UI shot 12-of-34 (.353) from the field and went 4-of-18 from the 3-point line. San Jose went 12-of-29 (.414) overall and only 2-of-5 from beyond 3-point range.
The game was decided in the second half, as Idaho shot 11-of 37 (.297) while the Spartans went 12-of-29. UI also went 5-of-13 from 3-point range in the second half while San Jose was 1-of-6.
Idaho was trailing 44-40 with 17:38 left in the game, but the Spartans went on a 10-3 run for the next four minutes, which was too much for Idaho to overcome. The Vandals were within three at 59-56, with about seven minutes left, but couldn’t narrow the score any more than that.

“Right now, we’re 1-0 and tomorrow, hopefully, we can be 2-0,” said interim head coach Derrick Allen. “For the girls, this means a lot. A lot of people don’t expect us to play the way we played, but I told the girls those are fightin’ words. Everyday, we try to get better, work on our stuff and prepare for the third season.”
The overall shooting percentage and rebounding were Idaho’s downfall. The Spartans outrebounded the Vandals 51-38. Both teams had 10 boards on offense, but the Spartans had 41 defensive rebounds to Idaho’s 28.
UI junior Liz Witte finished the game with 13 points and freshman Katie Madison had 10 points and seven rebounds. Also, Idaho’s junior Sara Dennehy contributed with eight points and a game-high nine rebounds. Dennehy did not play in the regular season finale, as she has been fighting a foot injury most of the season.
The Spartans had three players in double figures led by Brittany Powell, who came off the bench with 20, Myosha Barnes had 14 points, 11 of which were in the second half. 
“It was easier to score in the second half because they played off of me and Madison got into some foul trouble,” Spartans’ Powell said. “When she picked up those fouls, she started playing off me a bit and that helped me out.”
“I’m really proud of this team,” Divilbiss said. “It’s easy to have good attitude when everything is going well and everything happens perfectly, but that is not real life. How you handle the hard times is what separates you from other people, and I am very proud to be associated with this group of players. We are not going to let the outcome of one basketball game dictate the way we feel about ourselves or this season.” 

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