The University of Idaho Argonaut

Western Athletic Conference tournament play ended as abruptly as it started for the Vandals in Las Cruces, N.M. on March 11.
The Vandal women fell to the San Jose State Spartans 70-63 in their first match-up of the tournament, and the loss led the Vandals to the end of their season.
The Vandals led by three points at halftime, 38-35, but they came out cold at the start of the second half, and they just couldn’t warm up.

“We’ve been shooting the ball much better and I’m a little surprised that we shot the ball that way in the second half,” Idaho coach Mike Divilbiss said. “In the last two weeks, we’ve been a lot more aggressive offensively, which is how we played in the first half.  To have this happen to us again was disappointing.”
The Vandals shot a solid 44.8 percent in the first half, but shot just 21 percent from the field in the second half.
The Vandals did not make a single field goal for the first 14 minutes of the second half.  The team missed its first 23 attempts and the team’s only points during those 14 excruciating minutes came from six free throws.

Sophomore Katie Madison is credited with stopping the Vandals’ scoring drought.  With 7:32 left in the game, Madison scored a layup and a free throw after a foul to bring Idaho within seven points of the Spartans.    
Even though Madison stopped the no-point streak, the Vandals couldn’t get a hold of San Jose and the Spartans showed no mercy.
Although the Vandals’ overall shooting percentage averaged 7 percent lower than that of San Jose State, the Vandals and the Spartans shot a relatively equal free throw percentage.  The Spartans edged Idaho by 1 percent and hit 21-of-32 from the free throw line.  The Vandals shot 16-of-25 free throws to finish the game with a 64 percent free throw average. 
Madison ended the game as high-scorer for the Vandals with 24 points.  Madison also grabbed a season-high 13 rebounds.

Senior Sara Dennehy and freshman Yinka Olorunnife contributed 10 points apiece for the Vandals.  Olorunnife pulled down a career-high 15 rebounds to earn her second double-double this season.
Alisha Hicks was leading-scorer for the Spartans finishing with 19 points and 10 rebounds.  WAC top-scorer Natalie White scored 12 points and pulled down 6 rebounds for San Jose State.
The Vandals finished the 2007-08 season with a 4-25 overall record, and even though the season didn’t turn out the way the players, coaches or fans wanted it to, Divilbiss still remains positive.  Instead of dwelling on the team’s record or its loss in tournament play, he credits the team’s character and attitude throughout the year. 

“What matters is your character and I thought that these kids all year long have shown great character in a very tough building situation and have fought and fought and fought,” Divilbiss said. “We had to fight for everything we’ve done this year.”