Idaho Holds Off Irvine Foul Shooting Carries Vandals Big West Conference Women’s Basketball Tournament

There was an echo inside the Lawlor Events Center.

UC Irvine made run after run at the Idaho women’s basketball team, but the Vandals answered every threat during a tense 70-65 win in Wednesday’s opening round of the Big West Conference tournament.

“You feel the pressure in a tourney when a team comes back, but we held ‘em off,” said UI coach Julie Holt, whose Vandals (15-14) tangle with rival Boise State (18-9) tonight at 6 in the semifinals. “That says a lot about our players.”

Holt couldn’t say enough about her players’ free-throw shooting. The Vandals stuck 10 of 12 in the final 5 minutes, including Susan Woolf’s eight straight.

Still, the biggest play came after Kelli Johnson missed two free throws. The rebound was batted out to Woolf, who was fouled and made two free throws for a 68-62 lead with 44 seconds left.

“It was a back-and-forth game and we had to make some plays, like rebounding my missed free throw,” said Johnson, the Moscow High product who hit three second-half buckets after UI’s lead had been sliced to two and four points. “We kept the pressure on them.”

The Anteaters (16-11) kept UI squirming as Megan Stafford’s 3-pointer made it 68-65. Idaho had one inbounds pass nearly intercepted and had to call timeout on a second try before finally getting the ball to Woolf. She made two clinching foul shots with 9 seconds left.

“Susan’s like, ‘No big deal,”’ Holt said. “I don’t even think twice when Kelli or Susan are at the line.”

Meanwhile, the free-throw line was costly for Irvine, just 13 of 26 overall, 8 of 18 in the second half.

“It came down to something that has hurt us all year,” said Anteaters coach Mark Adams, whose club shot 59 percent during conference games. “Last year we were in the high 60s and that 10 percent would have put us in this game.”

UI’s Alli Nieman, a Sandpoint High grad, knocked down six points late in the first half to create a 28-24 lead.

More importantly, Nieman’s defense frustrated Leticia Oseguera, who scored one point in the first half.

Oseguera, who averaged 15.6 points in Big West games, traveled the first time she touched the ball and again late in the first half. She chewed herself out walking back down court, a scenario she repeated when she air-balled a second-half free throw.

“I just tried to play hard, like every other game,” Nieman said. Holt, laughing, interjected: “Every game, Alli. Every other game isn’t a good thing.”

In many ways, this was just like every game for UI’s starters. Nieman (16 points), Johnson (14) and Woolf (13) were within fractions of their seasonal averages. Jennifer Stone (12 points), who made two tough shots from close range at key times in the second half, and Kathryn Gussett (9) were slightly above their normal production.

Oseguera rebounded with four buckets during a 3-minute span in the second half to trim UI’s lead to 56-53 before Woolf responded with two free throws.

UI’s main problems were turnovers (16) and rebounding (Irvine had 13 offensive boards). UI often appeared poised to pull away, but kept stubbing its momentum.

“If you are going to play a team that plays pressure defense, fundamentals are key and we didn’t do a good job with that,” Holt said. “I hear it was a really good game to watch, but it wasn’t that fun to coach because I thought it was sloppy at times.”

Except when it mattered most.

Idaho 70, UC Irvine 65

Idaho (15-14) - Gussett 3-5 3-5 9, Nieman 6-14 4-4 16, Stone 4-4 4-4 12, Johnson 6-10 1-4 14, Woolf 2-10 8-8 13, Newman 0-1 0-0 0, McDaniel 1-2 2-2 4, Rico 1-1 0-0 2, Bloom 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-47 22-27 70.

UC Irvine (16-11) - Oseguera 5-9 2-5 12, Payton 3-9 0-0 8, Cappel 1-3 0-0 2, Hatcher 0-2 4-10 4, Roberson 5-12 2-3 15, Anders 0-3 2-2 2, Stafford 3-8 2-3 9, Mackey 6-12 1-2 13. Totals 23-58 13-26 65.

Halftime - Idaho 28, UC Irvine 24. 3-point goals - Idaho 2-5 (Johnson 1-2, Woolf 1-3), UC Irvine 6-14 (Roberson 3-4, Payton 2-5, Stafford 1-3, Anders 0-2. Fouled out - UC Irvine, Mackey. Rebounds - Idaho 36 (Johnson 8), UC Irvine 33 (Oseguera 12). Assists - Idaho 15 (Nieman 4, McDaniel 4), UC Irvine 17 (Hatcher 4, Stafford 4). Total fouls - Idaho 21, UC Irvine 23. Technicals - Idaho, Gussett. A - 691.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color photo

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: BIG WEST RESULTS Idaho 70, UC Irvine 65 Boise State 65, Pacific 57 UCSB 92, N. Texas 64 Nevada 81, Fullerton 45