On Saturday night the Vandal women’s basketball team won its fourth straight conference road game with a 64-45 victory over Texas-San Antonio.
Idaho’s (9-11, 6-3 WAC) defense was superb against the Roadrunners (11-9, 5-4 WAC), holding UTSA to just 45 points with no players in double figures. The Vandals held UTSA to a 27.1 shooting percentage while shooting 42.3 percent themselves. Idaho also out-rebounded the Roadrunners 49-27 and had 13 blocks.
Idaho coach Jon Newlee said he was thrilled with the way his team came out in this one.
“This was nothing but a total team effort, defensively and offensively, and I couldn’t be prouder of them,” Newlee said. “UTSA has been playing pretty good lately, four wins in a row heading into tonight including knocking off Seattle U.”
The Vandals will try to keep the road wins coming with two more next week against Utah State on Jan. 31 and San Jose State on Feb. 1.
The two teams were neck-and-neck to start the game, with Idaho holding a slight lead for most of the first half. The Roadrunners got their first and only lead of the game with just under 10 minutes to go in the half, but Idaho responded and went on a 9-0 run to retake the lead and go into the locker room with a 29-22 lead.
UTSA had a short burst to start the second half, but the Vandals quickly retook the momentum and got the lead up to double digits, which they never game up the rest of the way. Idaho led by as much as 21 and coasted to the victory.
Newlee said he was happy with the way his team kept the energy up, especially since blowing leads has been an issue this season.
“It was going to be a war, that’s what UTSA wants it to be,” Newlee said. “Our kids did a great job of keeping their composure as our lead grew. We buckled down defensively and did what we needed to do. We defended and rebounded extremely well.”
Idaho had four players in double figures, including freshman Christina Salvatore, Connie Ballestero and senior Jessica Graham who all had 13. Graham had only made two shots from the behind the arch this season, but went 3 of 4 against UTSA, a performance Newlee said was important.
“I guess their theory was leave Ali (Forde) and Jess alone, and Jess made them pay tonight,” Newlee said. “She’s confident out there for sure, and she if knows she is she’s wide open out there she’s got the green light.”
The biggest downfall for the Vandals was the 16 turnovers they committed which led to 20 Roadrunner points. Idaho won’t be back in the Cowan Spectrum until Feb. 7 when they host New Mexico State.
Kevin Bingaman can be reached at [email protected]