WSU Blows Big Lead, Still Beats Vandals

Idaho’s second half against Washington State on Tuesday was like a space shuttle mission. You take it on faith something so far gone can come back.

And for a while it looked like a mission accomplished.

Down 37-18 at the break, the Vandal women rallied to tie at 63 on Ari Skorpik’s 3-pointer with 4:30 remaining. Then WSU went to veterans Yvonne Kunze and Jade Hyett to regain the lead and claim a 78-68 non-conference basketball victory over its Palouse rival.

The Cougars are 4-1, the Vandals 3-4.

Idaho outshot WSU, hitting 18 of 36 from the floor to the Cougars’ 12 of 28 (42.9 percent). The Vandals also harried WSU into 13 second-half turnovers, primarily with fullcourt pressure.

WSU had built its lead by exploiting the size advantage with Kunze. She led the Cougars with 10 points in the first half, and more important, was able to hold Idaho’s Alli Nieman to four before halftime.

But when WSU came out flat to start the second half and Kunze went to the bench with a cut across her nose with about 4 minutes gone, Idaho went to work.

Nieman eventually scored 26 points to lead all players.

The Cougars were able to pull it out as point guard Hyatt penetrated and dished to Kunze, Laura Wilder crashed the boards and scored, Hyett hit a 3 from on top, and Kunze a putback on an offensive rebound to give the Cougs a 72-63 lead.

Said WSU coach Harold Rhodes of the Vandals: “They did what they needed to do to make it a ballgame. I think Idaho got my team’s attention.”

WSU 78, Idaho 68

Idaho (68) - Gussett 5-9 0-0 12, Greenwood 6-7 0-0 12, Nieman 8-17 10-11 26, Johnson 3-7 0-3 8, Skorpik 3-11 1-2 10, Ortner 0-0 0-0 0, Susan 0-1 0-0 0, McDaniel 0-1 0-0 0, Newman 0-0 0-0 0, Lemm 0-0 0-0 0, Blakley 0-0 0-0 0, Stone 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-53 11-16 68. Washington State (78) - Wilder 5-7 0-1 10, Saneholtz 4-8 2-3 10, Kunze 6-12 3-5 15, Hyett 4-5 3-4 12, Smith 3-6 4-4 12, McNeely 0-0 0-0 0, Kerns 0-3 4-5 4, Erickson 5-13 4-4 15, Evans 0-1 0-0 0, Rubio 0-0 0-0 0, Totals 27-55 20-26 78. Halftime - WSU 37, UI 18. 3-point goals - Idaho 7-14 (Gussett 2-2, Johnson 2-5, Skorpik 3-7). WSU 4-10 (Hyett 1-2, Smith 2-5, Kerns 0-1, Erickson 1-2). Fouled out - None. Rebounds - Idaho 28 (Gussett, Nieman 6). WSU 36 (Kunze 8). Assists - Idaho 12 (Gussett 6). WSU 17 (Kerns 6). Steals - Idaho 9 (Gussett, Skorpik 3). WSU 15 (Hyett 4). Turnovers - Idaho 25 (Skorpik 6). WSU Saneholtz 7 (). Total fouls - Idaho 23. WSU 16. Technical - None. A - 356.

UW 74, Gonzaga 45

Amber Hall scored 17 points and paced a first-half run that put Washington comfortably ahead on the way to a non-conference victory over Gonzaga in Seattle.

Chelsea Herman scored 10 points for the Bulldogs, who started three freshmen.

Washington holds a 13-0 all-time record against Gonzaga.

Gonzaga (1-7) - Jeffries 2-8 0-2 5, Deal 1-5 2-4 4, McCullough 2-4 0-0 4, Waltz 0-2 1-2 1, Andrews 3-5 0-0 9, Herman 4-9 0-0 10, Ledgerwood 2-8 2-2 8, Osberg 1-9 0-0 2, Steward 1-2 0-0 2, Clark 0-0 0-0 0, Gere 0-2 0-0 0, Perno 0-5 0-0 0. Totals 16-59 5-10 45.

Washington (2-4) - Hall 8-10 1-3 17, Tuiaea 3-8 1-2 7, Pelz 4-10 2-3 10, Redd 2-2 2-2 6, Niemela 6-11 0-1 17, Lynch 4-12 0-0 8, Teel 3-4 0-1 7, Rogers 1-5 0-0 2, Doxsee 0-2 0-0 0, Hills 0-0 0-1 0, Williams 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 31-64 6-13 74.

Halftime-Washington 42, Gonzaga 23. 3-Point goals-Gonzaga 8-18 (Andrews 3-5, Herman 2-3, Ledgerwood 2-4, Jeffries 1-2, McCullough 0-1, Waltz 0-1, Osberg 0-1, Gere 0-1), Washington 6-15 (Niemela 5-6, Teel 1-1, Lynch 0-1, Doxsee 0-1, Tuiaea 0-2, Rogers 0-4). Rebounds-Gonzaga 37 (Osberg 6), Washington 45 (Hall 10). Assists-Gonzaga 9 (Andrews 4), Washington 19 (Teel 9). Total fouls-Gonzaga 14, Washington 14. A-2,821.

The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = Pete Harriman Special to The Spokesman-Review