The 2018 season of Idaho Women’s basketball was labeled as one last run for stars Mikayla Ferenz and Taylor Pierce.
Now, 2019 is that of a team finding themselves again and looking to make a run at the Big Sky championship.
Idaho (4-3) has had an up and down ride this non-conference season.
“I’ve been pleased with our progress,” Newlee said. “It’s been slow at times, slower than I would like, but I also feel like we had some really good performances and really shown what we are capable of.”
With a road trip to Tampa and a meeting in Moscow with Hawai’i on the schedule, here is where Idaho stands.
Role transition:
Ferenz and Pierce will go down as some of the best to ever play at University of Idaho.
But the void they left behind led to questions on how the upperclassmen would step up to the challenge.
“It was quite a change for (the upperclassmen) to go from more role type players to the people that we’re relying on to score the basketball and play major minutes,” Newlee said. “I think once we got over that hump, mentally, we’ve been a lot better as a group.”
Sophomore guard Gina Marxen and freshman forward Beyonce Bea lead in scoring, averaging 13 and 12 per game respectively.
Also helping pick up the slack offensively is senior guard Lizzy Klinker, having 11 a game on 43% shooting.
The Vandals also returned team captain Isabelle Hadden, who is a senior post and represented Idaho beside Pierce and Ferenz.
Ali Ford-like defense:
For Vandal fans that might not remember Ali Ford, she was key to Idaho’s success from 2012-2016.
One of the best defensive players in program history helped anchor a team to three NCAA tournament appearances and Newlee said this year’s team has the same ceiling defensively.
“As a group, we play good defense. And they really stick to the scout to the plan going in,” Newlee said. “That’s a tribute to Christa Sanford who gets that gets that defense together. And I think they’re really buying into that and they’ve done a really good job of holding people down.”
The Vandals are holding teams to below 20% shooting from the three-point line along with over three blocks per night.
Offensive struggles:
It sounds weird to say with how good Idaho has been on offense for years, but the Vandals are now in search of a new offensive identity.
With 15 turnovers to 12 assists per game, Idaho has a turnover ratio anyone will brag about.
Newlee said taking care of the ball and rebounding are the main struggles currently for Idaho. If the Vandals want a shot at the conference championship, things will need to turnaround quickly.
Klinker, along with the rest of the team, knows that once these get put into practice, things should fall into place.
“As soon as we start applying the simple skills of our offense into our season, it will be great,” Klinker said. “There are so many new things that people won’t be ready to scout because we haven’t done them in games, so that’s going to be huge. Just the flow in our offense.”
Idaho plays the University of South Florida at 10 a.m. Dec. 15 in Tampa and University of Hawaii at 2 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 21 in Moscow.
Zack Kellogg can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @kellogg_zack.