To find the last time Idaho dropped a conference game, you’d have to go back to March 9, 2013. The Vandal women lost by two to the regular season champion Seattle U.
Idaho hasn’t dropped a Western Athletic Conference matchup since.
Following up the three wins in a row from last March’s conference tournament that netted the Vandals an NCAA Tournament bid, Idaho extended that streak to nine games and 6-0 in 2014 with yet another blowout — this time a 96-69 triumph Saturday at Cal State-Bakersfield.
It’s the sixth straight game Idaho has won by 11 points or more and the third game on the road against conference foes that Idaho has topped 90 points.
“It was an extremely physical battle,” Idaho coach Jon Newlee said. “There was a lot of stuff going on out there. We handled it well and didn’t lose our composure. We just kept battling and blocking out. I told the team in the locker room that I was proud of how they kept their composure and just focused on playing basketball.”
The 3-point clinic from Idaho put the game away early. Idaho hit a season-high 14 3-point shots going 14-of-25 from beyond the arc to put the game out of reach early. Stacey Barr hit four of those, leading Idaho with 23 points.
Further declaring its dominance among its conference competitors, Idaho snapped Bakersfield’s 10-game home winning streak. All while holding the conference’s leading scorer, Tyonna Outland, to 13 points, seven points below her season average.
Again, the blowout allowed Newlee to extend his bench, playing four players off the bench for double-digit minutes, with freshman Brooke Reilly posting her second straight game of double-digit points with 12.
All nine players who played got on the score sheet.
“We were so unselfish tonight,” Newlee said. “The movement of the basketball was fantastic. If somebody was open they got the ball, they got their look and they knocked it down. That is what team basketball is all about.”
For Idaho, now the question may not be how they’re going to win the conference, but by how many games. Every other team in the conference has at least two WAC losses, including the next team on Idaho’s slate — Grand Canyon.
The ‘Lopes of Grand Canyon come into the Cowan Spectrum on Thursday with the second highest RPI in the conference at 132 compared to Idaho’s ranking of 116, according to RealTimeRPI.com. Meaning, the Lopes might have the best chance of upending Idaho.
There is also defending regular-season champion Seattle, which swept the Vandals last season in the regular season. Although Seattle is standing at 4-2 in league play having lost to two teams Idaho beat by at least 17 points each.
Regardless, this is the best start to conference play for Idaho since 1981-82 in the Inland Northwest League.
Sean Kramer can be reached at [email protected]