RENO, Nev. — After five years of futility, an Idaho Vandals basketball team finally made it to the Western Athletic Conference Tournament semifinals — just two wins away from a ticket to the NCAA Tournament.
Unfortunately for Idaho’s women, after a decisive quarterfinal win over New Mexico State on Wednesday, they ran headlong into the WAC’s hottest team, and the improbable dream was over.
The fourth-seeded Vandals fell to No. 1 seed Fresno State, 80-66, ending a season that saw Idaho’s women endure a two-win non-conference campaign before coming together for a historic trip deeper into the WAC Tournament than any Idaho team has ever gone. Idaho finished the season with an 11-20 record, 8-8 in conference play. The Bulldogs advanced to the tournament championship, where they’ll play Louisiana Tech tomorrow at 1 p.m.
Idaho coach Jon Newlee credited Fresno State with taking the fight right at the Vandals, but considers the season a success for the way his team responded to the adversity it faced early on. Last year’s leading scorer Derisa Taleni was lost to a season-ending injury in preseason practice, and her absence was a big reason the team suffered 11 non-conference losses, including a six-game losing streak.
“After a really bad start to the year, to fight back the way we did, to finish fourth in the WAC and get the first ever WAC Tournament win for this team, it’s tremendous for our program,” Newlee said. “Fresno State is an extremely talented basketball team that will go a couple rounds in the NCAA Tournament if they get the right draw.”
But Newlee had harsh words for the game’s referees, who he said were biased against his squad.
“Today was probably one of the most horrendous, one-sided jobs of officiating that I’ve been involved in, and I’ve been involved in a lot of postseason tournaments in my 22 years,” Newlee said. “It was absolutely horrible, and I’m embarrassed for our league, embarrassed for our kids that we had to go and be subjected to that. Fresno State doesn’t need any help, they’re good enough on their own. It was just bad officiating and I’m not happy about it.”
Shortly after the postgame press conference, Newlee was publicly reprimanded by WAC commissioner Karl Benson for violating the league’s sportsmanship code.
Asked what he thought of the consequences he might face for his outburst, Newlee said “What more can they do? They took the game from us. Credit Fresno State, they played extremely well. We just want a level playing field. All I’m asking for is consistency. That certainly didn’t happen tonight.”
The Vandals never led in the game, as the Bulldogs scored 10 straight points to open the game before allowing a single Idaho bucket. Back-to-back jumpers from Yinka Olorunnife and Shaena Kuehu cut Fresno State’s lead to just four points, but the Bulldogs responded with back-to-back treys from LaShay Fears and Jaleesa Ross to push their advantage back to double digits at the break.
Out of the gate for the second half, Fresno State again was hot while the Vandals couldn’t find the basket. A 12-2 run by the Bulldogs opened up a 20-point lead after 8 minutes. Though Idaho twice cut the advantage to 10 or 11 points down the stretch, the Bulldogs hit big shots at big times to keep the Vandals from building momentum.
“They attacked us right out of the gate,” Idaho point guard Charlotte Otero said. “We were getting good looks that weren’t falling down, and we had a lot of turnovers that became easy baskets for them. Once we started playing our game and making our shots, we were able to close in, but it wasn’t enough.”
Olorunnife led the Vandals with 23 points and 7 rebounds on 9-for-14 shooting, while Kuehu chipped in 17 points and 7 boards. Otero had an uncharacteristic off shooting night, hitting just one of her 11 shots from the field. Idaho actually shot slightly more efficiently than the Bulldogs, but Fresno State made up for it by outrebounding the Vandals, 59-43, and hitting 13 of 28 3-point attempts. Ross led the Bulldogs with 25 points and 10 rebounds, one of four Bulldog players to record a double-double.
The game was the final outing for Otero, who capped off her career by leading the Vandals to their first tournament win. As a four-year starter, she led the NCAA in minutes played per game last year and was the team’s undisputed leader.
“I want to be here again next year, and I wish I could have spent four years with this coach and these girls,” Otero said. “It’s been a roller-coaster ride but I’m glad I played here and I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”
Without Otero’s stalwart play and ironman endurance, Newlee said, the Vandals would never have found themselves on the verge of playing for a WAC championship.
“I told Char in the locker room how proud I am of her,” the second-year coach said. “She had a fantastic two years and really laid a foundation for our team’s progress. There’s been a lot of firsts in the last two years for us and she’s been a part of all of them. Now we need to keep that going and keep that rolling, because we’re far from a finished product.”
Official Basketball Box Score
Idaho vs Fresno State
3/12/10 12 p.m. at Lawlor Events Center (Reno, Nev.)
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VISITORS: Idaho 11-20
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
01 Otero, Charlotte.... * 1-11 0-6 1-2 1 2 3 0 3 4 4 0 3 40
11 Cheever, Bianca..... * 1-8 1-4 2-2 1 5 6 1 5 4 3 0 3 29
15 Olorunnife, Yinka... * 9-14 3-6 2-2 1 6 7 2 23 1 3 0 0 40
23 Kuehu, Shaena....... * 6-16 1-5 4-6 2 5 7 4 17 1 3 0 4 30
25 Kloke, Rachele...... * 4-14 1-3 0-0 3 5 8 4 9 2 2 0 2 36
10 Helsham, Natasha.... 3-7 0-1 3-5 1 2 3 0 9 1 0 1 0 25
TEAM................ 6 3 9
Totals.............. 24-70 6-25 12-17 15 28 43 11 66 13 15 1 12 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 11-31 35.5% 2nd Half: 13-39 33.3% Game: 34.3% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 3-12 25.0% 2nd Half: 3-13 23.1% Game: 24.0% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 7-10 70.0% 2nd Half: 5-7 71.4% Game: 70.6% 3
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HOME TEAM: Fresno State 27-5
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
02 Munro, Hayley....... * 5-13 1-2 6-6 2 7 9 4 17 3 5 1 1 26
04 Ross, Jaleesa....... * 9-19 5-11 2-2 3 7 10 1 25 3 3 0 2 38
25 Moult, Rosie........ * 4-15 4-10 0-0 3 7 10 1 12 3 2 2 1 33
32 Filipe, Joh-Teena... * 3-12 0-1 4-4 5 5 10 3 10 3 2 2 2 28
40 Fears, LaShay....... * 2-6 1-2 1-1 0 1 1 0 6 2 1 1 2 31
01 Edwards, Taja....... 1-5 1-1 0-0 6 0 6 2 3 0 2 0 0 11
10 Arnold, Marnique.... 2-8 0-0 0-0 1 0 1 3 4 0 1 0 1 13
11 Andrews, Emma....... 1-3 1-1 0-0 1 2 3 2 3 2 1 0 1 20
TEAM................ 5 4 9
Totals.............. 27-81 13-28 13-13 26 33 59 16 80 16 17 6 10 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 13-42 31.0% 2nd Half: 14-39 35.9% Game: 33.3% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 7-15 46.7% 2nd Half: 6-13 46.2% Game: 46.4% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 9-9 100 % 2nd Half: 4-4 100 % Game: 100 % 0
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Officials: Penny Davis, Jack Jones, Eric Larson
Technical fouls: Idaho-None. Fresno State-None.
Attendance:
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
Idaho......................... 32 34 - 66
Fresno State.................. 42 38 - 80
WAC Tournament Semi-final
Points in the paint-UI 36,FRESNO 28. Points off turnovers-UI 25,FRESNO 14.
2nd chance points-UI 14,FRESNO 15. Fast break points-UI 19,FRESNO 10.
Bench points-UI 9,FRESNO 10. Score tied-0 times. Lead changed-0 times.
Last FG-UI 2nd-00:45, FRESNO 2nd-01:27.
Largest lead-UI None, FRESNO by 20 2nd-13:59.
