The Vandals head back on the road Monday after suffering a loss at Northern Colorado as the end of the regular season nears.
Idaho (13-9, BSC 10-3) is second in the Big Sky rankings, after a 72-77 loss on the road against Northern Colorado busting it’s six game win streak..
Senior guard Mikayla Ferenz came out of Thursday’s game against Montana as the all-time leading scorer for Idaho basketball, women’s and men’s, breaking the record that stood for almost two decades.
“It’s an unbelievable accomplishment to score as many points as (Ferenz) has,” head coach Jon Newlee said. “She’s been so consistent for her four years, but all of her hard work and everything she did before she got here and the work she’s done since being a part of our program, it’s just been amazing to watch her development and growth as a basketball player.”
Idaho now heads back on the road for what will be the start of a tough stretch in the schedule, three games in six days, with Eastern Washington (7-15, BSC 5-7) Up next on Monday.
Idaho will have to quickly pack its bags and travel to Cheney to play Eastern Washington, which will be the first game of an Idaho-Eastern Washington double-header.
Despite some struggles so far this season for the Eagles, they have won two out of their last three games, including a win against Montana that came down to the wire. Newlee said he knows they can’t underestimate any opponent, especially in the Big Sky.
“(The Eagles) usually play well at home, they have struggled a little bit, but they did rise up and beat the (Grizzlies) and that’s a big win for them,” Newlee said. “This is a big stretch for us, four games in a week… we are really going to have to focus.”
Eastern Washington has Violet Kapri-Morrow in its corner, averaging 19 points and six rebounds this season, and she will be a focal point of Idaho’s defensive game plan to come away with a win.
“Excellent basketball player without a doubt,” Newlee said. “(Kapri-Morrow) can score inside and out, we’ll put somebody on her, but we are going to have to get help from all sides because she is so capable of going off and putting up big numbers.”
Idaho plays Eastern Washington at 2 p.m. Monday in Cheney, Washington.
Zack Kellogg can be reached at [email protected]