UI Slips Into Postseason

Women’s basketball

It was the old good news-bad news scenario for the University of Idaho women’s basketball team.

First the bad news.

With Alli Nieman limited to eight field-goal attempts and five points, despite playing 36 minutes, the visiting Vandals lost to Boise State 59-56 Thursday night in a Big West Conference game.

Now, the good news.

The Vandals, thanks to New Mexico State’s loss to North Texas (62-51), have backed into a berth in the conference tournament.

Idaho is locked into fourth place in the Eastern Division and will play ninth-ranked UC Santa Barbara in the first round.

Boise State (14-12, 7-6 Big West) built an 11-point lead in the first half, then used a 21-12 run over the final 8 minutes of the game to hold off the Vandals (13-13, 6-7).

“Coming back took a lot out of us,” said Idaho head coach Hilary Recknor. “Getting behind 13 points kind of took the wind out of our sails, and we didn’t have quite enough to make it all the way back.”

Idaho’s Susan Woolf led all scorers with 17 points and hit three 3-pointers. Laura Bloom lilt for a career scoring high for the second time in three games, scoring 14.

Christa Peterson led the Broncos with 15 points and Abby Vaughan and Stephanie Block added 13 and 12, respectively.

Pepperdine 82, Gonzaga 71

Sydney Perno scored a career-high 23 points in her final game for the Bulldogs, who gave the No. 1 seed Waves a scare in the first-round of the WCC tournament at Santa Clara, Calif.

The Bulldogs led from the start and by six points at halftime.

Pepperdine started the second half with an 8-0 run to take the lead but Gonzaga stayed close, tying the score at 49-all later in the period. At that point, Pepperdine took command with a 13-0 run over a span of 4:37.

WCC Freshman of the Year Damaris Hinojosa scored 10 of her game-high 29 points in the last 2:25 to preserve the win for Pepperdine.

Perno’s 23 points came on 7-of-14 shooting from the field and 9 for 11 from the free-throw line. Jessica Malone scored 19 points and dished out five assists. Melanie Tipps finished with 14 points and six boards. Senior Jessica Waltz completed her career with six points and a team-high five assists.

Hinojosa buried 10 of 21 field-goal attempts, including four from beyond the arc, and dished out six assists on her way to game scoring honors.

Gonzaga (9-19)-Malone 7-14 2-4 19, Deal 1-4 1-2 3, Perno 7-14 9-1123, Lampson 0-3 0-0 0 , Bergman 0-2 4-4 4, Waltz 2-6 2-2 6, Tipps 4-7 6-7 14, Jeffries 1-2 0-0 2, Quitiquit 0-10-0 0. Correa 0-0 0-0 0, Osberg 0-10-0 0. Totals 22-54 24-30 71.

Pepperdine (20-8)-Braxton 7-9 6-9 20, Thomas 1-6 0-0 2. Morgan 0-5 1-2 1, Clark 4-11 4-6 14, Hinojosa 10-21 5-7 29, Richen 6-6 0-0 12, Baari 1-2 0-2 2, Lembke 1-3 0-12. Epperson 0-0 0-0 0, Grimm 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 30-63 16-27 82.

Halftime-Gonzaga 37, Pepperdine 31. 3-point goals-Gonzaga 3-14 (Malone 3-8, Perno 0-1, Bergman 0-1, Waltz 0-1, Jeffries 0-1, Lampson 0-2), Pepperdine 6-12 (Hinojosa 4-8, Clark 2-3, Lernbke 0-1). Fouled out-Tipos, Morgan, Lenrl Rebounds-Gonzaga 36 (Malone, Tipps 6), Pepperdine 39 Thomas 8). Assists-Gonzaga 15 (Waltz 5), Pepperdine 17 Hinojosa 6). Total fouls-Gonzaga 20, Pepperdine 21. A-236.

E. Washington 74, Montana St. 67

Tracy Ford Phelps scored 31 points, including a 5-of-9 effort from 3-point range, to lead the Eagles (11-4, 7-8 Big Sky) over the Bobcats (6-20, 2-13) at Bozeman.

Montana State led 25-16 with 7:37 left in the first half, but Ford Phelps scored 11 points in a 21-2 run as the Eagles took a 37-27 halftime lead.

Montana State closed within 58-55 with 5:57 remaining on a pair of free throws by Amy Meckling. But EWU answered with an 11-0 surge to take a 69-55 lead with 2:38 to play.

Julie Moore with 11 points and Michelle Demetruk with 10 also scored in double figures for Eastern Washington.

Meckling led MSU with 24 points.

Eastern Washington (11-14, 7-8)-Ford-Phelps 9-19 8-8 31, Moore 5-8 1-2 11, Burgess 1-3 1-4 3, Demetruk 3-6 2-4 10, S. Granger 1-5 0-12, Paluck 1-4 5-6 8, J. Granger 1-2 0-0 2, Ruen 3 3 1-1 7, Carlson 0-4 0-0 0. Totals 25-54 18-26 74

Montana State (6-20, 2-13)-Merrill 3-13 6-7 12, Martin 4-7 0-0 8, Weedin 2-9 6-6 12, Meckling 5-13 10-12 24, Curl 2-8 0-0 5, Andrist 0-10-0 0, Jeresek 1-5 2-3 4, Skarman 1-3 0-0 2. Totals 18-59 24-28 67.

Halftime-E. Washington 37, Montana St. 27. 3-point goals-EWU 8-16 (Ford-Phelps 5-9, Demetruk 2-4, Paluck 1-1, J. Granger 0-1), MSU 7-19 (Meckling 4-8, Weedin 2-5, Curl 1-3. Skarman 0-1, Jeresek 0-2). Fouled out-Merrill. Rebounds-EWU 43 (Moore 9), MSU 34 (Martin 9). Assists-EWU 14 (Ford-Phelps 4), MSU 9 (Weedin 4). Total touls-EWU 20, MSU 21. A-426.