Vandals stars All-Big West
There probably couldn’t have been a better compliment for Emily Faurholt and Leilani Mitchell when it was announced Monday morning that the Idaho stars were repeaters on the All-Big West Conference women’s basketball first team.
With the conference tournament set to get under way Wednesday in Anaheim, veteran Santa Barbara coach Mark French was asked if the Vandals’ season sweep of his Gauchos gave other league members hope.
“I’m sure lots of people are studying the video tapes seeing how they did it,” French said. “Unfortunately for most of us we don’t have Leilani Mitchell and Emily Faurholt to put into the mix.”
That’s why Mitchell and Faurholt repeated as first-team selections with teammate Heather Thoelke earning honorable mention.
When asked what made the difference against USCB, UI coach Mike Divilbiss said, “Faurholt and Mitchell. They’re pretty talented, and Thoelke played very well.”
Despite UI’s two wins over Santa Barbara, the first time a Big West team has done that in more than a decade, it wasn’t enough to stop the Gauchos from winning a 10th straight league title. That makes them favored to win the league tournament for an eighth straight year.
The Vandals (17-10 overall, 12-6 league) are the third seed and have a bye into the second round Thursday largely because of the Kennewick trio of Mitchell, Faurholt and Thoelke.
Faurholt, a 5-foot-11 junior forward, led the Big West in scoring at 23 points a game, which is second in the nation. Last year she was the nation’s leading scorer at 25.4.
“It’s a nice honor and I am excited about it,” said Faurholt. “The only way I could ever get an award like this is because of the people around me and I’ve very grateful for my teammates.”
Mitchell, a 5-6 sophomore point guard, led in assists (5.74) and steals (3.78) and was fourth in scoring (17.2).
“It feels great to get the award, but it’s a team award,” she said. “Our team did a lot more than was expected of us … because of how young we are, but with both Emily and I (honored) it just goes to show how good our team was and how much everyone stepped up into their roles.”
Thoelke, a 6-foot senior wing, was honorable mention for the second straight season after being a second-team pick as a sophomore.
Last year when Faurholt and Mitchell burst on the scene to help Idaho to one of the biggest turnarounds in the country, they were named Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year, respectively. Also, Divilbiss was Coach of the Year after UI went 13-5 in league and were 21-5 heading into the tournament.
This time around senior Kristen Mann of league champion Santa Barbara is Player of the Year; Kemie Nkele of Riverside is Freshman of the Year; and Tammy Holder of Northridge is Coach of the Year.