Lopsided Loss Had An Upside

So the Idaho Vandals lost to No. 17 UC Santa Barbara last Sunday for the sixth time in seven meetings. But it wasn’t as bad as the 95-69 final score would indicate.

The Vandals (8-7, 1-1 Big West) outscored the conference’s finest team 44-29 in the second half and that has Idaho coach Hilary Recknor feeling pretty good as her team prepares for its first two home conference games against UC Irvine (9-5, 2-0) Friday and Cal State Fullerton (2-12, 1-1) Sunday.

“I think we went away with some positive things,” Recknor said. “It certainly could have been worse than it was.”

A weekend sweep - which seems possible - would put Idaho at 3-1 and in great position in the always-close Big West East Division. Nevada, Boise State and Idaho are 1-1.

Idaho leads the series against Irvine 3-2, losing last year on the road 76-68. The Vandals hold a 3-0 edge against the Titans.

WSU looks to break through

Washington State (3-11, 0-4) travels to Oregon State (5-10, 1-2) and Oregon (11-4, 2-1) this weekend in search of a Pac-10 win. Coach Jenny Przekwas has used 10 different starting lineups in her search for a winning combination.

As for the Cougars’ spirits after losing six straight, Przekwas said, “We have players working hard who want to find a way to win. We have players who see there is no benefit to quitting right now.”

The Oregon teams are two of the best in rebounding and blocked shots. OSU is led by Reda Petraitis (8.3 rpg) and Sissel Pierce (7.3 rpg), a former B State Tournament standout from Wishkah Valley.

Oregon - coming off a terrible loss to Stanford after leading by 26 points - is lead by sophomore guard Shaquala Williams (17.1 ppg) and 6-foot-5 junior center Jenny Mowe.

Long time coming

Just how big was Gonzaga’s road win at the University of San Francisco last Friday? Significant enough to get out the yearbook and dig up the information regarding the last time the Zags won a conference game on the road.

Good fortune struck the Bulldogs two years ago when they beat Loyola Marymount in the final game of the regular season. That had been their only WCC road win since Kellee Barney took over the team before the 1994-95 season. But then again, they haven’t had many wins overall.

“To be able to win on the road is a sign that we’re starting to turn the corner,” Barney said.

But the Bulldogs also showed they haven’t come full circle as far as putting together a perfect weekend. One night later, they were throttled by Santa Clara 98-66.

“It was a poor effort,” Barney said. “Our defense was terrible. We couldn’t play man or zone. Part of that was Santa Clara taking us out of our game.”

The Bulldogs (8-7, 1-1), play their conference home opener Thursday night against Saint Mary’s (10-5, 2-0). San Diego (7-7, 0-2) will visit on Saturday. The defending WCC champion Gaels are led by last year’s conference player of the year Tracy Morris. The 6-2 senior forward is averaging a league-leading 18.7 points per game and is fifth in rebounding with 7.5 per game.

The Saint Mary’s game will be a homecoming for two Gaels from Washington, sophomore Brianne Jolley, formerly of Lakeside High, and redshirt freshman Katie Davis from Manson. Davis lit up the State B tournament two years ago with a record-setting 50-point game. Jolley begin the season as a starter, but she’s now the first guard off the bench, partially because of the development of junior forward Hilary Parker.

“Hilary’s a great defender and Brianne’s a scoring threat, a spark off the bench,” said Saint Mary’s coach Kelly Graves.

Davis, coming off knee surgery, plays behind Morris and averages 6.4 minutes.

3-pointers

Lewis-Clark State College (13-0, 1-0 Frontier Conference) is ranked No. 4 in the NAIA Division I poll for the third straight week. Alyssa Erickson, from last year’s State B tournament champion Wilbur-Creston, is averaging a third-best 9.0 points and third-best 3.8 rebounds per game. Lora Jolley, who prepped at Lakeside High, is averaging 6.7 points and 3.6 rebounds per game… . Even though they’re a dismal 5-11, 1-3 in the Pac-10, the Washington Huskies have the Pac-10’s top scorers in Leavenworth junior Megan Franza (19.7 ppg) and Havre, Mont., freshman Loree Payne (18.3).