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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Oh, Boy! Vandals Deliver Idaho Greets Coach’s Son With A Key Win

With a season sweep on the line and Julie Holt in the Gritman Medical Center family birth center, the University of Idaho women’s basketball coach passed Sunday’s game plan and the immediate future of the season over to her assistant, Kate Rue.

Hours later, Holt produced the biggest assist of her career. While the youngest Holt was arriving, Rue guided the Vandals to a dramatic 67-66 win over Boise State. The victory pushed Idaho into second place in the Big West Conference Eastern Division with two games remaining before the Big West Conference tournament. Idaho, a 69-65 overtime winner at Boise earlier this year, and the Broncos are 7-5 in the conference standings. Nevada is a half-game ahead at 8-5 after beating New Mexico State.

“I went to the hospital and sat with her,” said Rue, Holt’s second-year assistant. “We kinda talked about some things.”

Now, both have gabbing material that could last a lifetime. Or at least enough to pass onto Holt’s children.

Holt went into labor at 9 a.m. Sunday and delivered the second son born to her and assistant football coach Nick Holt at 2:38 p.m. About 20 minutes later, in Memorial Gym, guard Ari Skorpik dished off to Kelli Johnson, who drained a 6-foot jump shot that gave the Vandals (12-12 overall) the lead with 3.6 seconds remaining in their game with Boise State (9-14).

Boise’s last-gasp effort at victory failed when Renya Fortenberry’s long pass ricocheted off the backboard into the hands of Skorpik.

“I think they had a little tricky play,” Rue said. “I honestly think they ran a play to tip it off the backboard. That was smart. They didn’t have much time.”

Idaho, however, had had the time to execute its last offensive play. It got the ball with 22.3 seconds left and trailing 66-65. “We tried to run a little break special in our transition to get an open shot,” Rue explained. “Ari did a great job of just keeping her dribble. KJ (Johnson) read the gap and got in. I knew that it was going in.”

But there was serious doubt throughout the game as to which team would win the critical contest. About the time news of Holt’s delivery was announced to the 1,521 spectators in Memorial Gym, the Vandals faced their largest deficit 51-44.

Suddenly, the Vandals began to push themselves out of the darkness. Kathryn Gussett, who led Idaho with 16 points, scored on a layup. Johnson followed with a 3-pointer to cut Boise’s lead to two, 51-49 with 11:58 left. Idaho went ahead 56-55 when Melisa McDonald converted on two free throws with 8:07 remaining.

Then, Idaho center Alli Nieman began to make an impact, scoring back-to-back baskets to make it 61-55. Nieman, who is averaging 19 points per game, was held to 10 points on 5-of-8 shooting. She picked up her third foul 1 minute into the second half and spent several minutes on the bench.

“We knew we had to play good defense. We’ve been working on our post defense all along and just really tried to deny the easy entry into her,” Broncos coach Trisha Stevens said.

Boise State led at halftime 38-36, mostly thanks to Kellie Lewis’ hot hand.

The junior guard hit 4 of 6 3-pointers in the first half and finished with 23 points. Freshman starter Heidi Umthun of Post Falls scored four points.

Idaho 67, Boise St. 66

Boise State - Umthun 1-1 2-2 4, Brydges 4-11 3-5 11, Freeman 2-2 0-0 4, Gray 1-4 4-6 6, Lewis 8-5 0-0 23, Sumlin 2-4 0-0 5, Rainis 2-4 0-0 4, Durieux 0-1 0-1 0, Fortenberry 2-3 1-1 5, Hodges 2-3 0-0 4. Totals 24-48 10-15 66.

Idaho - Gussett 6-9 3-3 16, Nieman 5-8 0-1 10, Greenwood 2-6 3-5 8, Johnson 4-10 4-4 13, Skorpik 3-10 3-4 10, Ortner 0-0 0-0 0, McDaniel 1-2 2-2 5, Newman 2-2 0-1 4, Stone 0-0 1-2 1. Totals 23-47 16-22 67.

Halftime-Boise State 38, Idaho 36. 3-point goals-Boise State 8-17 (Lewis 7-11, Sumlin 1-1, Brydges 0-1, Gray 0-1, Durieux 0-1, Fortenberry 0-1, Hodges 0-1), Idaho 5-9 (Gussett 1-1, Greenwood 1-1, Skorpik 1-1, McDaniel 1-1, Johnson 1-3, Nieman 0-2). Fouled out-Greenwood. Rebounds-Boise State 32 (Brydges 9), Idaho 22 (Nieman 8). Assists-Boise State 13 (Lewis 5), Idaho 9 (Skorpik 3). Total fouls-Boise State 22, Idaho 17. Technicals-None. A-1,521.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: 2 Color Photos