Ucsb Has Idaho Zoned-Out

The Vandal women wilted down the stretch while their visitors from UC Santa Barbara found the zone.

The Gauchos’ 2-3 zone defense helped them zero in on a 68-53 Big West Conference victory over the University of Idaho Friday night before a Memorial Gym women’s basketball record 1,846 spectators.

For the first 30 minutes, Idaho challenged the conference’s top Western Division team. Idaho never led in the second half, but came as close as four points 53-49 with 8:22 left. The Vandals had a chance to cut it to two, but Ari Skorpik missed an uncontested layup.

Around that time, the Gauchos went to a zone defense and packed everyone in the middle, forcing Idaho to rely on its perimeter shooting. Idaho appeared to pack in the chance of an upset, scoring on four foul shots, all by Melisa McDaniel, in the final 8:22 of the game.

“We played not to lose instead of to win,” Idaho coach Julie Holt said. “In all the other games, there’s been an aura that our team has had complete confidence. We lacked that tonight.”

Idaho’s 19 turnovers led to 17 UCSB points. The Gauchos had 18 turnovers, resulting in 14 Vandal points.

In the final 8 minutes, Idaho went 0 for 8 from the field. On the other end, it couldn’t contain UCSB 6-foot-3 forward Amy Smith, who scored 10 points down the stretch and finished with a game-high 21.

Idaho’s Alli Nieman, whose job was to guard Smith, finished with a team-high 12 points, well below her 17.9 average. However, her 12 rebounds added up to her fourth consecutive double-double.

“We played tentatively, especially in the last 5 minutes. We just stopped taking it up strong like we had been throughout the game,” Nieman said.

Idaho was unable to hold down Erin Alexander, who’s leading the Big West with 20 points per game and finished with 18. But it did hold the Gauchos to 68 points, far below their nation-leading 85.2 average.

UI took a 22-21 lead when guard Kelli Johnson hit a 3-pointer at 9:43 of the first half. Idaho remained at 22 points for the next 4-1/2 minutes. UCSB scored eight points and had a 38-31 halftime lead. The 1,846 fans broke the old mark by 822. More than 50 people - dressed in UCSB colors came from Spokane to welcome freshman guard Stacy Clinesmith. The 1996 Mead High School graduate had seven points and four assists.

“I was a little nervous in the beginning,” said Clinesmith.

UC Santa Barbara 68, Idaho 53

UC Santa Barbara (14-5, 7-1) - Rohr 3-8 0-0 6, Duckworth 3-4 1-2 7, Smith 10-17 1-1 21, Alexander 7-17 2-2 18, Clinesmith 3-11 0-0 7, Lampson 1-4 0-0 2, Benjamin 0-0 0-0 0, Mahar 1-1 0-0 2, Cooper 0-4 1-2 1, Frial 1-1 0-2 2, Shadwell 1-4 0-1 2. Totals 30-71 5-10 68.

Idaho (9-11, 4-4) - Gussett 0-6 1-2 1, Nieman 5-13 0-0 12, Greenwood 2-4 0-0 4, Johnson 4-11 2-2 12, Skorpik 5-15 2-2 13, Ortner 0-0 0-0 0, McDaniel 0-1 4-4 4, Newman 0-2 0-0 0, Lemm 0-1 0-0 0, Blakley 1-2 0-0 2, Stone 3-5 0-0 6. Totals 20-60 9-12 53.

Halftime - UC Santa Barbara 38, Idaho 31. 3-point goals - UC Santa Barbara 3-15 (Alexander 2-5, Clinesmith 1-6, Smith 0-2, Lampson 0-2), Idaho 4-13 (Johnson 2-6, Nieman 1-2, Skorpik 1-3, Gussett 0-1, Greenwood 0-1). Fouled out - None. Rebounds - UC Santa Barbara 53 (Rohr 14), Idaho 34 (Nieman 12). Assists - UC Santa Barbara 12 (Alexander 5), Idaho 13 (Gussett 4). Total fouls - UC Santa Barbara 15, Idaho 15. Technicals - None. A - 1,846.

, DataTimes