The Idaho women’s basketball team came up just short of beating Louisiana Tech for the first time in program history when La. Tech’s Whitney Frazier banked in a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to hand Idaho its second straight loss.
The game was close all the way through, but La. Tech was able to preserve its perfect record against Idaho and complete the season sweep of the Vandals. Idaho is still in third place in the conference standings, but just a half-game up on La. Tech and Texas-San Antonio.
The Vandals have an 11-day break between games, but will start the last home stand of the year when they face UTSA on Feb. 28. There are just three games left in the regular season for Idaho.
Starters
Ali Forde
Forde had a decent night for Idaho with seven points and six rebounds in 20 minutes of action. She went 3 of 6 from the field and added two steals. All in all, it wasn’t bad night at all for the freshman who continues to improve.
Alyssa Charlston
Charlston is usually the most dependable player Idaho has, but she had a tough go of it on Saturday, going 1 of 8 from the field for five points. It’s surprising to see Charlston with those stats, but everyone has a bad game every now and then.
Christina Salvatore
Salvatore has been a dependable shooter all year, but she was cold in this one as well. The freshman went 1 of 11 from the field, including 0 of 8 from the arch, for a total of thee points. Like Charlston, it’s an odd occurrence to see Salvatore with those numbers.
Stacey Barr
Barr carried the Vandals in this one, leading all scorers with 21 points while adding 11 rebounds for her second double-double of the year. Barr had been struggling recently, but broke out of it in a powerful way. She was just one point shy of her career high.
Connie Ballestero
The freshman point guard did her job in this one, totaling seven assists, five points and three boards in 35 minutes of play. She continues to show she is effective at running the offense and has been consistent all season.
Bench
Idaho’s bench put out of a total of 21 points, led by senior Jessica Graham who was Idaho’s only other double-digit point scorer. Graham put out 13 points and grabbed seven boards. Sophomore Krissy Karr also checked in with six points and seven assists on the night. The bench looked more effective than the starters did at times and certainly helped keep things close.
Kevin Bingaman can be reached at [email protected]