Historic runs must always come to an end, as the women’s basketball team learned in March.
Mikayla Ferenz and Taylor Pierce have officially laced up for the last time in Idaho jerseys. Vandal fans now have no choice but to look forward to the future. In many other cases, this would be cause for serious concern and disappointment after such lofty highs. As crazy as it may seem, the Vandals are actually in remarkably good shape following the departure of two all-time greats.
This year’s freshman class included three contributors who could accelerate the rebuilding process. Gina Marxen, Hailey Christopher and Janie King each made substantial impacts for the team in their first years on campus, and their futures offer plenty to be excited for.
“All around, we really needed that new blood to help us get better, and they really helped us with that,” Idaho Head Coach Jon Newlee said.
Between Ferenz and Pierce, Idaho will have to replace 41 points per game and 73 minutes on the floor per game, which will be no small task. The duo will almost assuredly end up in Idaho’s Hall of Fame, but the team has plenty of promise stemming in large part from this year’s freshmen contributors.
Freshman guard Gina Marxen drives past a defender Jan. 3 against EWU in Cowan Spectrum.
For the second year in a row, Newlee went with a freshman starter at point guard, and Marxen made that decision pay off in spades. After leading the team in assists and steals along with 8.6 points per game, Marxen was recognized as the Big Sky Freshman of the Year.
“It’s always a scary thing starting a freshman point guard, especially since it’s the most difficult job. They have to be on the same page as me and the team and make decisions,” Newlee said. “Gina was outstanding. She gave me everything we could hope for out of a freshman point guard.”
Marxen will be the biggest key for Idaho going forward. The freshman acted as a “splash stepsister” in many ways, finishing with the best 3-point percentage of any of Idaho’s guards with a .411 mark. Pierce and Ferenz each took more than 330 attempts from behind the arc, and Marxen finished with only 158 attempts, meaning she could see an even bigger role as a sharpshooter and leader in the future.
“It was a lot of fun to be a part of something so historic, but now it’s on to the next season,” Marxen said. “Focusing on being a vocal leader will be a big deal for me. (Ferenz) and (Pierce) always were there to put their arms around you and avoid any type of confusion, and I’m up next for that.”
While it would be impossible to completely replicate the Splash Sisters’ shooting prowess, Christopher and King should be threats from anywhere on the floor as they mature into their sophomore years and beyond.
Christopher finished the season shooting .433, largely from within the arc. In the loss to Portland State that ended Idaho’s Big Sky Tournament run, Christopher scored 16 in 25 minutes on the court and carried that momentum into the WNIT. In 24 minutes in the second and third round matchups with Denver and Arizona, she was also a force on the boards with seven rebounds in each contest.
“It showed a lot of potential for us as a team to perform so well in the WNIT because the season’s so long already,” Christopher said. “We still showed just how much we can take with how far we made it.”
King is listed very much like a mirror image of Christopher as another 6-foot combo guard, but the Eagle, Idaho, native’s game comes more from 3-point range. King showed flashes early with a 6-10 3-point showing against Stanford, but struggled to keep her shooting stroke late in the season. She finished behind only the Splash Sisters and Marxen in 3-point attempts and Idaho fans can expect her to fill some of that production gap in years to come.
“I don’t think we’ll ever be able to replicate (Ferenz and Pierce’s) shooting, but we will find new ways to key into each
of our strengths to be successful without them,” King said.
There will undoubtedly be challenges in moving on from two of the program’s best ever, but shrewd recruiting has already put the next stage of the plan in place. Marxen already made waves across the Big Sky and figures to be an even bigger offensive presence in the years to come. Christopher has the ceiling of a dangerous combo guard going forward and King will have hundreds more opportunities to rain from beyond the arc with Pierce and Ferenz gone.
“As a group, they really stepped in and provided sparks off the bench and as starters,” Newlee said. “I’ve been through this kind of transition before, and it can be difficult to lose that kind of scoring power and leadership. If they come in with the confidence of having played for a championship team, we’ll be just fine.”
Jonah Baker can be reached at [email protected]