Sophomore Alyssa Charlston’s 29 points were not enough to comeback against Utah State(13-6, 4-1 WAC), and Idaho (5-16, 0-5 WAC) women’s basketball fell 70-78 Saturday in the Cowan Spectrum.
The Vandal losing streak stands at eight games. The most recent two have almost identical story lines — fall behind early and make a run at the end that comes up just short.
Idaho will try to break the skid on the road this week, first at Hawaii on Thursday, then San Jose State Saturday.
Charlston said only an all-around team effort will get the Vandals some wins.
“We can’t rely on one person,” Charlston said. “Everyone needs to contribute even if one part of their game is off.”
After giving up the first basket of the game, the Vandals countered with an 8-0 run to take an early lead, but it didn’t last long. The first 10 minutes of the half turned into a back and forth battle. But the game soon went south for Idaho. The shots stopped falling for Idaho and the Aggies went on a run to end the half with a commanding 46-29 lead.
Idaho coach Jon Newlee said his team needs to play a full game and not give up long runs.
“It seemed like one turnover on top opened up the flood gates and they went on that run,” Newlee said. “We can’t play for 30 (minutes), you’ve got to play for 40. I keep saying that.”
Things looked bleak from the start of the second half, and Idaho gave up an 8-0 run to the Aggies. But the Vandals didn’t go down quietly. Idaho went on a late surge and cut the lead to single digits, but was unable to generate enough offense to complete the comeback.
Utah State’s Devyn Christensen, who came into the game averaging 19 points per game against WAC opponents, scored 22 points — including the first 13 points of the game for the Aggies.
Utah State came into the game as one of the best shooting teams in the conference, and although Idaho shot a better percentage its 22 turnovers proved costly.
Of the eight games in the losing streak, four have been decided by 10 points or less. Newlee said he tells his team to play with more intensity and said he’s seeing improvement, but it hasn’t translated into wins yet.
“They’re getting that message,” Newlee said. “It’s a slower process than what I’d like, but it’s coming.”
With the win the Aggies remain in second place in the WAC behind Fresno State while the Vandals dig themselves into a last place hole.
Charlston said the team needs to find a way to come out with energy and play with confidence if it wants to salvage the season.
“We need to get the feeling of wining back,” Charlston said. “We have to get that feeling back and that will help us play more confidently and I think the fact we only lost by eight to the second best team in the conference should help our confidence.”