Three games stand between the Idaho women’s basketball team and the WAC tournament. The Vandals will also take their last road trip of the season Saturday, traveling to Utah State.
The Vandals (9-19, 4-7 WAC) are coming off an overtime victory against Nevada, and will try to climb into the No. 5 spot in the conference with a win, but it won’t come easy. Utah State put together a solid season and sits in second place in the WAC.
Idaho senior, Jessica Graham, said the Vandals are confident and know they have what it takes to make an impact.
“We have the ability to win the whole thing,” Graham said. “Everything goes down the drain when it comes to records in the WAC tournament and anyone can win. I think we proved that these last couple weeks.”
While Utah State will have a high seed going into the tournament, Aggie coach Raegan Pebley said the Aggies are focused on what’s in front of them
“We’re taking it one game at a time,” Pebley said. “There’s still so many games before then. We’re focused on Idaho right now.”
When the Vandals and Aggies met earlier this season it resulted in a 78-70 win for Utah State. The Vandals turned the ball over 22 times in that contest. Idaho assistant coach Jordan Green said the Vandals must take care of the ball better this time around.
“The key is definitely not turn the ball over,” Green said. “We turned the ball over a lot in the first game we played them and that led to a lot of easy points for them. We didn’t get any shots and they got easy baskets, so that’s definitely a key.”
The Aggies may be one of the top scoring teams in the WAC, but Pebley said the focus for her team will always be defense.
“We always focus on defense and make sure we’re all on the same page defensively,” Pebley said. “We want to make sure we’re playing team defense and helping each other out and we need to focus on rebounding as well.”
Utah State is led by junior Devyn Christensen, who averages 20 points per game against WAC opponents. She scored 19 in the first half alone last time the Aggies met Idaho. Green said Idaho must make the Aggies work for every shot.
“Defensively — they have a lot of really talented scorers — so we’re going to have to play good defense and contest all their shots and then rebound a little bit better as well,” Green said.
Sophomore Alyssa Charlston, who averages more than 16 points per game, leads the Vandals. Pebley said the Vandals are dangerous in their efficiency.
“Idaho runs their offence as well as anyone in the conference. They have players that understand their roles,” Pebley said. “They’re a team that we cannot, will not look past.”
Utah State is a talented shooting team and leads the conference in field goal percentage, but is also dangerous in the paint. Last time out the Aggies scored 42 points in the paint. Green said Idaho has to be tough defensively.
“They’re very talented,” Green said. “They can shoot the three and they can score inside and it makes them tough to guard. Everyone’s going to have to play good one-on-one defense and as a team we’re going to have to help each other out a little bit better.”
The Vandals have the advantage of a week to rest and prepare before the game, which Graham said is much needed.
“It’s really important,” Graham said. “We can rest our bodies and prepare even longer for a tough team like Utah State.”
The Vandals return home March 1 against San Jose State.