Athletes of the week

Mike Scott — men’s basketball

The men’s basketball team desperately needed to get a win to move up in the WAC standings. With a few key players making some big plays down the stretch, the Vandals were able to prevail 64-61 over Cal-State Bakersfield in the Cowan Spectrum on Saturday night. One of the key players was junior point guard Mike Scott. Scott, who started in place of senior Glen Dean, scored a career-high 20 points while also getting five rebounds and six assists.

“Mike Scott played a heck of a game,” Idaho coach Don Verlin said. “He stepped up and played remarkably well the last two games, logging 37 and 38 minutes. Tonight he was phenomenal. The only two shots he missed were 3-pointers. Mike was the key to us winning the basketball game.”

The men’s team returns to the court Thursday when it visits Grand Canyon.

Andrey Levkiv — track and field

The track and field team competed in its first meet of the season Saturday at the WSU Indoor Open. The Vandal men, in particular, had a big day with five first-place finishes and two career-best marks set. One of the bright spots was Vandal thrower Andrey Levkiv, who finished first in the shot put with a career-best heave of 55 feet, 5.75 inches. Idaho coach Wayne Phipps was impressed with the senior’s performance.

“Andrey returned from an injury and looked like he hadn’t missed a day,” he said. “That was the highlight of the meet for me.”

Next up for the Vandal track and field team is next week’s home meets on Friday and Saturday. The team will host the Idaho Collegiate starting at 11 a.m. on Friday and then the Idaho Open starting at 8:30 a.m. on Saturday.

Stacey Barr and Ali Forde — women’s basketball

The women’s basketball team has had a tremendous start to its 2014 WAC schedule. The Vandals were 5-0 going into the Icardo Center to face Cal State-Bakersfield on Saturday. They came out victorious 96-69 and two Vandals really stood out in the blowout win. Junior Stacey Barr continues to shine for Idaho as she finished 4-for-5 from 3-point range and led all scorers with a game-high 23 points. She has now scored in double digits in 24 of her last 26 games. Meanwhile, sophomore Ali Forde continues to be a dominate force in the post for the Vandals. She scored 16 points, all in the paint.

“I loved our aggression in transition,” Idaho coach Jon Newlee said. “We got out and really ran and were able to spread the floor. I think Ali (Forde) really hurt them inside early and that opened up the outside for us.”

The women return to the Cowan Spectrum at 6 p.m. on Thursday to take on Grand Canyon for the first time in school history.

Rachel Millet and Erica Anderson — swimming and diving

The Idaho swimming and diving team continue to have a successful season. The Vandals competed against the New Mexico State Aggies and won by a score of 173-127. Junior Rachel Millet led the Vandals and continued her dominating season with wins in the 100-yard backstroke, 200 backstroke, and 200 individual medley. Meanwhile, junior Erica Anderson also had a great day in the pool as she finished with wins in the 50 freestyle and the 200 breaststroke. “It was great to get back to what we do well and that’s competing,” Idaho coach Mark Sowa said. “The Aggies are a really well coached good team and we knew we would have our hands full. I thought these Vandals handled that challenge great. It wasn’t always pretty, but you don’t get points for style.”

The Vandals compete 11 a.m. on Saturday against Oregon State at the UI Swim Center.

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