Utah State ends Vandals’ season

RENO, Nev. – Idaho’s Derisa Taleni scored 24 points in a losing effort as Utah State defeated the Vandals 59-58 in overtime Wednesday in the quarterfinals of the Western Athletic Conference tournament.

Idaho had two chances to take the lead in the closing seconds in overtime, but the Vandals committed a turnover with 13 seconds left and missed a shot as time expired.

“It’s a huge disappointment to come this far and not be able to finish it out at the end,” Idaho coach Jon Newlee said. “I feel like we were the better team, but give (Utah State) credit, because they battled hard and they hit some big 3s, especially down the stretch.”

Yinka Olorunnife recorded her 11th double-double of the season, scoring 11 points with 13 rebounds. She finished the season with 310 rebounds, an Idaho record.

The Vandals, who were picked to finish last in the conference in the preseason coaches poll, finish the season 13-15 overall and 10-6 in conference.

“I think we took unbelievable strides as a program this year,” Newlee said. “Our main goal coming in this year was to reverse the whole losing culture here and we’ve done that.”