MOSCOW, Idaho - The University of Idaho women's basketball team used a 19-5 second-half run to pull away for a 61-43 victory over Eastern Oregon in its final exhibition contest of the 2009-10 season Friday.
Rachele Kloke scored 11 points and grabbed six rebounds and Shaena Kuehu finished with nine points and seven rebounds as the Vandals overcame 3-point shooting woes and 18 turnovers for the 18-point victory.
"We played better in stretches tonight, we rebounded a lot better in the second half and we were more aggressive defensively than the first game. Those things were good for us," Idaho coach Jon Newlee said.
It wasn't all praise, however, as Newlee pointed out some areas for improvement; an all-important benefit of an exhibition game.
"We gave up too many open looks, being patient seemed to be a problem for us and I didn't like our defensive communication," Newlee said. "We have a lot to work on."
Idaho shot 22-of-61 (.361) from the floor for the game but hit just 6-of-27 (.222) 3-pointers and seemed to settle too quickly on shots outside the arc. The Vandals were 2-of-16 (.125) from the 3-point line in the first half.
"There were times we could have made better cuts or made better decisions with the ball. Our poor shooting was from rushing our shots, as opposed to last time out where we were just missing open looks," Newlee said.
Idaho scored the first basket of the contest and Eastern Oregon quickly tied the score at 2-2. The Vandals then used a 12-0 run to move ahead 14-2 and led by 12 on two other occasions before the Mountaineers cut the margin to 19-12 with 7:41 remaining. The teams traded 3-point plays before Idaho scored eight-consecutive points to build its largest lead of the half at 30-15 with 47 seconds remaining. Eastern Oregon hit a jumper with 23 seconds left to make the score 30-17 at the half.
"We started the game well, but then we went to the bench and the energy level and communication went down," Newlee said. "We talked at half time about getting a spark off the bench and we have to have that if we're going to contend this year."
The teams opened the second half with a combined eight turnovers in the first three minutes and the score stood 37-28 at the 15:52 mark. Idaho broke the game open at that point with a 9-0 run that eventually became a 19-5 stretch and gave the Vandals their largest lead of the contest at 56-33 with 7:14 remaining. Idaho coasted to victory from that point and never led by less than 17 points.
Charlotte Otero finished with eight points on 3-of-3 shooting and Yinka Olorunnife tallied seven points and game-highs with eight rebounds and five steals.
As a team, the Vandals held a 38-34 rebounding advantage with 15 offensive rebounds and shot 11-of-12 (.917) from the free throw line. The Mountaineers committed 26 turnovers to Idaho's 18.
"I didn't like our decision-making with the basketball tonight," Newlee said. "We had 18 turnovers, which makes it look like (Eastern Oregon) put a lot of pressure on us, but a lot of it had to do with decision-making. We have new people in and they are all trying to learn each other's skills in a game situation so that's going to happen."
Idaho opens the 2009-10 regular season at home vs. Gonzaga Nov. 16.
