RENO, Nevada — Before her junior season, heading to the Big Dance had been the norm for Christina Salvatore. After her Vandals’ eighth straight win in the Silver State, Idaho is on the brink of an NCAA Tournament bid once again.
Salvatore rebounded from an off shooting night in Idaho’s opener, a pair of Vandal freshmen continued to play with unflappable confidence and UI shot the lights out after halftime to reach the brink of a third trip to the Big Dance in four seasons. Idaho hit nine 3-pointers after halftime and 14 overall as the third-seeded Vandals tore past second-seeded Eastern Washington with an 86-71 win in the second semifinal of the Big Sky Conference women’s tournament on Friday.
[restrict paid=”true”]“My first two years, I didn’t really know what it was like not to go (to the NCAA Tournament) and last year, we struggled and that motivated us, specifically our senior class,” said Salvatore, a first-team All-Big Sky selection who shot 1-of-11 in an overtime win against Weber State but bounced back to hit three 3-pointers and score 14 points on Friday. “This is our last year and we went our first two years so let’s do it again. We want to show our freshmen the way we do things here so when we leave, they have developed habits and way of winning.”
A season after missing the Big Sky Tournament, Idaho notched its 22nd win to set up an all-Idaho title game. Ninth-seeded Idaho State notched a 69-54 win over No. 4 North Dakota earlier on Friday for its third win during the tournament. The meeting will be the first ever in the tournament championship game between the Gem State rivals.
“It would be fantastic, especially with our senior class, to go three out of four years,” Newlee said. “It would be fantastic, a great experience for our freshmen. Without a doubt, it’s why we play the game: to go to the NCAA Tournament. That’s what our program is about. But there is a huge mountain in front of us.”
Idaho captured back-to-back Western Athletic Conference tournament championships before returning to the Big Sky last season. The Vandals are a charter member of the league but left the league in 1996 before returning in 2014. Idaho won three games in Las Vegas two years in a row to capture the WAC title. The Vandals are threatening to win the first neutral site tournament in the Big Sky’s history.
“It’s new-old format for us,” said Newlee, who led Idaho State to a Big Sky title, an NCAA Tournament and three WNITs in six seasons as ISU’s head coach. “We are used to this from the WAC where we had those neutral games in Las Vegas. We love this format. I think it’s fantastic for the league. When I was coaching at Idaho State, I was pushing for a neutral court site. Even when we won it (2006) and hosted, I know this league and we needed this neutral site.”
Two of Idaho’s freshmen have played integral roles in reaching this point. On Wednesday, Mikayla Ferenz hit a Big Sky Tournament record eight 3-pointers and Taylor Pierce’s last-second fall-away 3-pointer at the buzzer lifted Idaho to an overtime win over Weber State. On Friday, each hit four 3-pointers, including three each after halftime as Idaho poured it on, rallying from a 41-35 halftime deficit to win going away.
“Our confidence comes from our coaches and our teammates,” said Ferenz after scoring a team-high 20 points. “I look up to (Salvatore). She’s a great shooter and she gives us a bunch of confidence. At the beginning of the year, I remember Coach got on Taylor and I for not taking our shots. We realized we had the green light (laughs). Every since, we’ve been taking them.”
Idaho used crisp ball movement and sharp shooting to win the second half 51-30. Idaho hit 14 of its 25 second-half field goal attempts, including half of its 18 3-point tries. Idaho notched 21 assists on 27 converted shots and hit 14-of-28 from beyond the 3-point arc.
“Idaho shot the ball, especially in the second half,” Eastern Washington head coach Wendy Schuller said. “This time of year, you have to make plays. You aren’t going to win any games when you shoot 22 percent in a half.
“We knew coming in that the 3-point shot was a big part of their game. It’s hard in transition when you have four shooters you have to run to. We let Ferenz get loose and that’s on us for not doing a better job.”
EWU converted just seven of 32 second-half shots, including missing all four of its 3-point tries. Sophomore Delaney Hodgins scored 13 of her 22 points after halftime, her senior sister Hayley Hodgins scored 19 points in her final game against Big Sky competition.
“They came out hot in the start of the fourth quarter,” Hayley Hodgins said. “They punched us. We fell down and never got back up.”
Newlee is widely considered one of the greatest coaches in Idaho State history. Before Newlee arrived, ISU had advanced to the postseason exactly once. He took the Bengals to the Big Dance or the WNIT four times in six seasons. He is the only ISU coach to win multiple Big Sky Coach of the Year honors and coached Natalie Doma, among the greatest players in the history of the Big Sky after finishing her career as the league’s all-time leading scorer and rebounder.
“I’ve been gone eight years,” Newlee said. “I am a Vandal now. What happened in the past… I’ve been at SMU, Hawaii, Idaho State and that’s all in the past. I’ve been at Idaho for eight years and I’m a Vandal through and through.”
Idaho State has used a rough and tumble style to win three games thus far this tournament. The Bengals battered top seed Montana State throughout, setting up a chance for a 27-foot buzzer beater to defeat the Big Sky champions. Newlee said he expects a similar style of game even if it’s not what his team desires.
“They are a tough, physical basketball team without a doubt,” Newlee said. “They manhandled us in Pocatello, literally. We are going to have to go back to the drawing board and take a look at what went down in that game. Hopefully, it will be a nice clean game. That’s the way it should be for a championship game. Not a WWF match like it has been.”
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