Idaho 61, Nevada 56 (OT) | Stats
RENO, Nevada - Yinka Olorunnife had 18 points and nine rebounds, and Rachele Kloke had 10 points and 10 boards to lead the Idaho women's basketball team to its second straight road win, beating Nevada 61-56 in overtime in the Western Athletic Conference opener for both teams Thursday night.
The Vandals were plus-six in turnover margin and out-scored the Wolf Pack 9-4 in overtime to ensure the victory. Nevada entered the game with the best record in the WAC and falls to 11-3 (0-1) on the season, while Idaho improves to 8-5 (1-0) in 2010-11.
Keri Arendse went 5-for-5 from the free throw line for the Vandals, including 4-for-4 in the overtime period, and finished with seven points, six rebounds and four steals. Derisa Taleni had nine points, Ganeaya Rogers had six and Jessica Graham finished with four for the Vandals.
The Vandals led by as many as nine points at 49-40 with 7:20 to play in the game, but the Wolf Pack would battle back. Nevada went on a 10-0 run to take a 50-49 lead with less than two minutes to play. Olorunnife tied the game at 50-50 with a free throw with 1:44 to play, and Kloke gave the Vandals a 52-50 lead with 46 seconds left, but Nevada forced overtime with a jumper by Kayla Williams with 17 seconds to play.
All nine of Idaho's points in the overtime period came from the free throw line, as the Vandals connected on 9-of-10 free throws in the extra frame despite going 0-of-5 from the field.
Idaho shot just 33.3 percent (19-of-57) from the field, but held Nevada to 36.8 percent (21-of-57) and just 2-for-13 from 3-point range. The Vandals hit 3-of-16 3-pointers (18.8 percent) and led the turnover battle 22-16.
The Vandals owned a 43-41 advantage in rebounding and scored 19 points off turnovers, to Nevada's seven.
Nevada was led by 22 points and 12 rebounds from Shavon Moore, while Tahnee Robinson, the WAC's leading scorer, was held to 11 points on 4-of-13 shooting.
Idaho finished with four blocked shots in the game, including two from Kloke and one each from Ashley Walters and Olorunnife.
The Vandals will return home for the first time since Dec. 8 when they host Fresno State on Jan. 10. Idaho will play six of its next seven games at home in the Cowan Spectrum after playing 10 of its last 11 on the road.
Louisiana Tech 69, San Jose State 34 | Stats
SAN JOSE, Calif. - Louisiana Tech overcame a sluggish first half and pulled away over the final 20 minutes to down San Jose State 69-34 in the Western Athletic Conference opener for both teams at The Events Center in San Jose.
Adrienne Johnson led Tech with 16 points, six rebounds, four steals and three blocks while Whitney Jones added 11 points. Jones, a West Monroe native, hit a milestone during the game, becoming the 40th player in Techster history to score at least 1,000 career points.
In an opening half that saw the Lady Techsters struggle offensively, Tech (9-5, 1-0 WAC) shot only 28 percent (9-32) from the field and entered the halftime locker room with a 27-18 lead.
"We talked to our players leading up to the game about not overlooking this game and this team," said Tech head coach Teresa Weatherspoon. "In the first half we didn't come out with the energy that we needed. I give a lot of credit to San Jose State. Those kids played their tails off.
"A lot of times when teams are struggling they become more and more hungry to win. That's what San Jose State was ... a hungry basketball team."
Tech led 19-18 after a jumper by Spartan guard AJ Newton with 6:06 to play in the half before holding San Jose State scoreless the rest of the way. Kiara Young's three-pointer with 40 seconds to play in the first half capped an 8-0 run and gave the Lady Techsters the nine-point halftime advantage.
Weatherspoon and Co. got off to a much better start in the second half scoring the first 10 points. San Jose State guard Sara Plavljanin's jumper with 15:29 to play ended a more than 10-minute drought where the Spartans were without a field goal.
Tech eventually pushed its lead to 48-21 on a free throw by Young with 11:00 to play as the Lady Techsters used the 29-3 run to gain the separation it needed.
"I thought we really fed off the energy that Tarkeisha Wysinger-Mackey brought on the defensive end in the second half," Weatherspoon said. "We settled down and played. I thought we settled for too many three-pointers in the first half and the game really, but the second half we were better at getting the ball inside."
Tech shot 52 percent (17-33) from the field in the second half while outscoring San Jose State 42-16.
For the game, Tech hit 40 percent (26-65) of its field goals, but connected on only 8-of-26 three-pointers and 9-of-16 free throws. San Jose State hit only 27 percent (12-44) of its field goals while committing 25 turnovers.
New Mexico State 74, Hawaii 58 | Stats
HONOLULU - The New Mexico State women's basketball team won its Western Athletic Conference (WAC) opener 74-58 at Hawai'i as four Aggies scored in double digits inside the Stan Sherriff Center Thursday night.
After Hawai'i cut the NM State lead to three at 49-46 with 9:07 remaining, the Aggie offense rolled over a tired Rainbow Wahine defense down the stretch. NM State outscored UH by 25-12 after the midpoint of the second half and out-rebounded the home team 21-12 in the stanza. Senior guard Madison Spence came alive in the half by scoring 13 of her 14 points after the break to lead the Aggie offense.
Senior guard Danisha Corbett returned to the starting lineup after missing two starts due to a knee injury and helped lead the Aggie offense with 11 of her 13 tallies before halftime including a trio of three-pointers. Junior forward Tabytha Wampler tied for game-high honors with 17 points and senior guard Jasmine Lowe added 16. Junior forward Ariella McGhee had her best outing since the opening weekend of the season with eight points on 4-of-5 shooting.
NM State shot well from the floor at 45.6 percent while holding Hawai'i to just a 38.9 percentage. The Aggies also shot better from three (36.8 percent) and the charity stripe (83.3 percent) for the game. NM State edged UH on the glass 34-30 and forced 17 Rainbow Wahine turnovers that led to 19 points.
"I'm really pleased, this is a huge win in conference play for us," said head coach Darin Spence. "Our execution on offense tonight was really good. I liked our team energy tonight."
NM State improves to 7-8 overall and 1-0 in the WAC with the victory while Hawai'i drops to 6-8 overall and 0-1 in conference.
Aggie freshman guard Jasmine Rutledge earned her third consecutive start of the season tonight. Corbett returned as a starter for the first game since incurring a knee injury against Utah on Dec. 23. Corbett had not started the previous two games but did see minutes on the floor at UNM and versus UTEP.
NM State scored the first three points of the game after a free throw by Spence and a bucket from Wampler. Later another Wampler hoop put NM State up 5-2. Hawai'i then went on an 8-0 run to make it 10-5 at 16:26 of the first half.
The Aggies countered with a 15-2 run over the next 4:17 of the half to lead 20-12. NM State extended its lead to 10, the largest of the half, minutes later after a basket by Lowe to make it 24-14 at the 9:11 mark. The teams played even over the next six-plus minutes as the Aggies kept the lead at 10 with just under four to go in the half.
The Rainbow Wahine rallied in the final minute of the half to score five straight and cut the NM State advantage to 36-33 at halftime.
NM State scored the first five points after halftime to force an early UH timeout just 2:30 into the half. UH cut the lead to three twice over the next eight minutes but the Aggie defense held and would not let the home team get any closer.
After UH closed to within three at the 9:07 mark, Spence and Lowe combined to score 15 of the game's next 23 points to build a 66-52 lead with 3:25 remaining before the Aggies closed out the game.
Hawai'i guard Keisha Kanekoa tied Wampler for game-high honors with 17 points. UH's Kamilah Jackson added 12 and grabbed a game-high nine boards in the contest.
Utah State 69, Boise State 57 | Stats
LOGAN, Utah - Sophomore guard Devyn Christensen netted a career-high 21 points, while sophomore center Banna Diop tied a school record with eight blocks, two shy of a triple-double as Utah State used a 16-0 first half run to lead the way to a 69-57 win over Boise State Thursday night at the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum. Thursday was the Western Athletic Conference opener for both women's basketball teams. USU ended the night with a school record 14 blocks.
Diop registered 12 points, 12 rebounds and eight rejections. The eight blocks tied a school-record set by Jill Swainston from 1987 vs. Northern Colorado. The Aggies' 14 blocks topped their school record of 11 set twice last year vs. North Dakota State and San Jose State.
Diop now has 59 career rejections, moving into the number seven spot on USU's career list. Her former teammate, Nicole Johnson holds the Aggie record with 133 blocks. Diop recorded her double-double early in the second half, posting her second double-double of the season and third of her career. It is USU's sixth double-double of the season as junior forward Ashlee Brown has the Aggies' four other double-doubles.
Utah State evens its record at 7-7 and opens WAC play with a 1-0 mark for the third time in the last four seasons, evening its WAC opener record at 3-3 in the Aggies' six years in the conference. USU avenged an 80-70 loss to Boise State in the 2006-07 WAC opener.
With the loss, BSU is 9-6 overall and 0-1 in league action. It was the Aggies' third win over the Broncos in the last five meetings, as Boise State now leads the series, 9-3, as WAC foes, while holding a 16-5 all-time series advantage.
Senior guard Amber White joined Christensen and Diop in double-digit scoring with a season-high 14 points, while Brown added nine rebounds. Senior guard Alice Coddington dished out a game-high seven assists, part of USU's 17 helpers on the night. Coddington also had a game-best four steals, the Aggies' seventh game in double-digit swipes. Utah State entered the night ranked second in the WAC at 10.54 steals per game.
Boise State was led by Kate Isham's 18 points, while Lauren Lenhardt tossed in 10 points and Janie Bos pulled down a team-high 10 rebounds as the Broncos had a slim, 44-43, rebounding advantage. Both teams committed 20 turnovers.
Utah State shot 43.9 percent (25-of-57) from the field, making just 2-of-11 (18.2 percent) of its three-pointers, tying a season-low. Boise State was 23-of-72 (31.9 percent) field goal shooting, also struggling from behind the arc at 3-of-24 (12.5 percent).
The Aggies were 17-of-24 (70.8 percent) at the free throw line, making more than the Broncos attempted, as BSU was 8-of-11 (72.7 percent).
Boise State took its lone lead of the game at 4-2, before Utah State went on a 16-0 run to open an 18-4 advantage. Diop started the spurt with a pair of free throws and freshman guard Jennifer Schlott hit a three-pointer at the 9:40 mark. BSU closed to 20-13 with 4:07 left in the first half on a layup by Kinzi Poteet, but the Aggies stretched their lead to 30-18 at the half as Schlott hit two free throws 43 seconds before intermission.
USU scored the first eight points out of halftime as Diop hit a layup at the 17:39 mark for a 38-18 Aggie advantage. After Utah State took a 46-30 lead on a jumper by sophomore guard Chelsea Burns at the 12:27 mark, Boise State scored eight unanswered, while USU was held without a field goal for eight minutes as the Broncos closed to 46-38 after a Bos layup with 8:41 on the clock.
That would be the closest BSU would get, as Diop ended the Aggies' drought with a layup and USU re-took a double-digit lead and coasted to victory. Christensen hit 7-of-8 free throws in the final 1:37 to ice the win.