Vandals win opener at WAC women’s soccer tournament

Junior Amber Pimley scored twice in the first half Thursday and Idaho earned the first Western Athletic Conference tournament win in program history with a 2-1 decision over San Jose State (6-12-1).

Pimley, a three-year starter, scored her first collegiate winner in the 41st minute with a high-arcing lob from 30 yards out.

The Vandals (8-10-3) will meet top-seeded Utah State in a semifinal at noon today.

• Vandals juniors Chelsea Small and Jill Flockhart repeated as WAC first-team honorees, the conference announced Wednesday.

Small, a three-time selection, led the Vandals with 10 goals and 24 points.

Flockhart led Idaho with six assists.

• Gurveen Clair made eight saves as Washington State (12-6-3, 6-3-2 Pac-12) finished in a scoreless tie with host Washington (7-8-5, 3-5-3) after two overtimes.

The Cougars are undefeated in their last eight matches against UW.

WSU, fourth place in the Pac-12, will find out Monday if it is invited to the NCAA tournament.

Volleyball

Freshman Kelsey Julian had a career-high eight blocks and Eastern Washington had a season-high 17 blocks while outlasting Northern Arizona 3-2 in Big Sky Conference play at Flagstaff, Ariz.

The Eagles (13-11, 9-4) won their fifth consecutive match and tied Portland State for second place, one-half game behind Northern Colorado – the Eagles’ opponent on Saturday.

• Chloe Ferrari had 21 kills as 21st-ranked San Diego (24-3, 9-3) held on to second place in the West Coast Conference with a 3-1 win over Gonzaga (7-16, 1-11) at the Martin Centre.

Denise Van de Mortel had 33 assists and 10 digs for the Bulldogs, who led the fourth game 24-21 before losing 32-30.

Men’s basketball

Cole Luckett and Petar Joksimovic combined for 34 points as North Idaho (1-0) defeated the North Idaho All-Stars 96-60 in nonconference play.

Jordan McCloud and Michael Middlebrooks teamed for 26 points and 21 rebounds for NIC.

Women’s golf

Idaho senior Kayla Mortellaro was named Western Athletic Conference Golfer of the Month for the fifth time.

During October, Mortellaro tied for first place at the Price’s Give ’Em Five Intercollegiate at Las Cruces, N.M., and placed second at the Las Vegas Collegiate Showdown.