There was no easy start to the season for the Idaho women’s basketball team. Instead of easing into the season with an exhibition game, the Vandals jumped right into tough competition competing against No. 25 Gonzaga Friday in Spokane.
But despite a resurgence in the second half, the Idaho women’s basketball team fell to the Zags losing 64-56 at the McCarthy Center to start the Preseason WNIT.
Gonzaga came out fast early, scoring the first points of the game and never letting go of the lead in the first half.
Halfway through the first quarter, Idaho only had five points but the Vandals went into halftime with momentum from a Christina Salvatore 3-point shot.
Gonzaga led 26-14 going into halftime and things were reminiscent of Idaho’s 97-62 loss to the Zags last season.
Then the second half started.
The Vandals were on fire from 3-point range coming out of halftime. Salvatore hit another three to start the second half sparking the Vandals to score the first eight points of the period. Less than five minutes into the half, Idaho took a 30-28 lead on a three by senior guard Addie Schivo.
It was the first lead change of the game and the shot erased what started as a 12-point Idaho deficit coming into the half. In all, Idaho outscored Gonzaga 23-10 midway through the second half before the Zags started to turn things around with their superior size.
“I thought we did a good job of adjusting at halftime to their zone,” Idaho coach Jon Newlee said. “To be honest, we hadn’t worked against that 3-2 zone. We certainly didn’t expect the Zags to have to zone us. I was happy with our man offensive execution to make them go to zone (play).”
The Vandals stuck with the Zags until late in the game. Idaho was down 54-50 with less than four minutes left in the game before Gonzaga put it away.
“The box-outs hurt us,” Newlee said. “I thought their length inside finally kind of took it for them. I thought that was the difference — the play in the paint.”
Foul trouble hurt the Vandals late. Starting sophomore forward Ali Forde had five personal fouls on the night limiting her playing time late in the game.
“She was doing a great job in that first half,” Newlee said of Forde. “She can jump with those guys. She can elevate and she can play with 6-4, 6-5 kids.”
Three-point shooting highlighted the game for the Vandals. They shot 25.7 percent from three-point range making nine on the night. Four of those came from Salvatore who scored 14 points for the Vandals. Senior forward Alyssa Charlston led the Vandals with 15 points and nine rebounds — just shy of a double-double. Forde added eight points and eight rebounds for the Vandals.
Idaho made some mistakes and had some foul trouble, something expected in a team’s first game of the season, but the Vandals didn’t play with a lack of effort.
“I told them I loved the effort tonight,” Newlee said. “I thought our effort was outstanding on both ends of the floor.”
The Vandals have two games left in the Preseason WNIT. They play Mount St. Mary’s on Friday in Chicago before playing their final consolation game on Saturday.
Stephan Wiebe can be reached at [email protected]