Two things helped Alyssa Charlston hold her composure Saturday afternoon at the Cowan Spectrum.
One was the 3-point shot she hit 24 seconds into the game. The other was the tight game UMKC gave Idaho, meaning Charlston couldn’t triumphantly exit the game with under a minute to go as she could have during a majority of Idaho’s WAC games this season.
The ‘Roos of Kansas City cut Idaho’s lead to 65-63 with 47 seconds left in the game. Idaho coach Jon Newlee couldn’t afford to take his star senior out of the game at that point. Luckily for Idaho, it was sophomore Christina Salvatore and junior Stacey Barr who ended the game on a 5-0 run and put Kansas City.
The 70-63 win moved Idaho to 15-1 in WAC play and was the final game that Charlson and fellow senior Addie Schivo will have played at the Cowan Spectrum if all goes well in Las Vegas at the WAC Tournament.
“I was thinking at the end of the game I was pretty glad that we didn’t get the sub out because I probably would have cried then too,” Charlston said “They (the emotions of senior day) disappeared quick and that was a nice way to start it … It was fun and it definitely wasn’t in my mind during the game.”
It was a typical performance for Charlston, who put up 20 points, 4 rebounds and 2 blocks. Her layup with 6:50 left in the game broke a 53-53 tie and kept Idaho infront of Kansas City for the remainder of the second half.
Schivo got the start in place of Christina Salvatore for senior night. She was able to slot into her more natural off-guard scoring position for most of the night. Though she only put up 2 points, she contributed with 4 rebounds and 2 assists.
“I haven’t started in a while, I’ve started before so it wasn’t any different,” Schivo said. “Yeah it was, it was nice because we also had Connie on the floor so I didn’t have to start the point guard, I think it was really cool on senior day I got to start.”
For Newlee, senior day meant saying goodbye to the most accomplished player he’s ever had in the program. But he’s also looking forward to the few games he still has left with her.
“You know, I thought I’d be a little sadder, it’s just because we have more games to go and I know we’ve got more games to go, it’s not the last game she’s ever going to play for me, that’ll be the time, when the season is over and done it’ll be bad, I can tell you,” he said. “But tonight, I was just happy for her, to have her whole family here and to see her be appreciated by the fans , I was just happy for her and all she’s accomplished here as a Vandal.”
The attention for Idaho now turns to Wednesday and the WAC Tournament at the Orleans Arena. The Vandals, already slotted into the No. 1 seed, will face Chicago State. The Vandals have already blown the Cougars out by 50 points twice.
Should Idaho advance, it will get the winner of UT-Pan American and New Mexico State, two other teams that Idaho swept in the regular season.
“We need to have the mindset that we’ve had going into each week, and that’s get a win, you can’t overlook any team,” Charlston said, then going on to quote Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll. “Every game is a championship game, you go into every game (like that) then you’re prepared for it.”