The Vandal women’s basketball team open the regular season against Corban University at 2 p.m. Saturday in Memorial Gym.
The Vandals are coming off a victorious exhibition game against Warner Pacific that ended 70-45 in their favor. Two freshmen, Stacey Barr and Krissy Karr lead the Vandals in scoring. Idaho coach Jon Newlee said it was an impressive debut for the newcomers.
Newlee said the team is polishing every aspect of the game.
“We’ve been working on our offense this week, trying to get it a little more smooth flowing,” Newlee said. “We’re working on our rebounding and working on our communication.”
The Vandals start the season against a talented Corban University team. The Warriors are led by NAIA Division II All-American Katie Steigleman, who scored 19 of the team’s 46 points against Gonzaga Nov. 5. Newlee said Steigleman is a legitimate threat his team has to pay attention to.
“They’re talented and they’re picked to win their league out there, I do know that,” Newlee said. “We’re going to have to come with a better effort and we’re going to have to execute better than what we did on Saturday.”
The Vandals struggled to rebound against Warner Pacific and the taller Warrior team will pose a greater challenge. Newlee said the speed of the Vandal guards will hopefully counteract Corban’s superior height.
“They got some size,” Newlee said. “We’re going to try to use our speed and we’ll work on our inside.”
He said he expects to see a lot of man defense, which means his team will have to be physical.
“From what I hear they play mostly man, so we’re going to have to set hard screens, make good cuts and shoot the ball better from three,” Newlee said.