Barr goes for 22 but UI falls on road to Eagles

CHENEY - The Idaho women's basketball team's first string of Big Sky Conference road games ended on a sour note Saturday. The Vandals, plagued by a slow first half, fell to Eastern Washington 71-65 at Reese Court to start conference play on the road.

Senior Stacey Barr contributed a game-high 22 points, helping the Vandals down the stretch with two key shots from behind the arc. On the day she was 8-of-23, including 18 second-half points.

Idaho (7-7, 1-2) started just 4-for-15 from the floor and 1-for-7 from 3-point range in the game's first 10 minutes. The Vandals found themselves down 12 points halfway through the period. Freshman Geraldine McCorkell sparked life into Idaho's offense, igniting a 9-0 run to cut the EWU lead to 26-21, following a Karlee Wilson three with 7:52 left to play.

EWU matched the Vandals with a 8-0 run of its own, extending its advantage to 37-21 with 2:57 left in the half. However, the Vandals answered with another run sparked by Renae Mokrzycki's four points from the bench and cut the Eagles' lead to 37-30.

IDAHO (7-7, 1-2)

Barr 8-23 4-4 22, McCorkell 4-7 5-5 14, Forde 6-14 2-5 14, Reilly 1-5 2-2 4, Ballestero 2-8 0-0 4, Mokrzycki 2-3 0-2 4, Wilson 1-5 0-0 3, Salvatore 0-8 0-0 0. Totals 24-73 13-18 65.

EASTERN WASHINGTON (10-4, 3-0)

Williams 6-14 3-3 15, Redmon 4-8 4-4 13, D. Hodgins 5-10 2-3 12, Nelson 5-10 0-0 12, H. Hodgins 2-10 1-2 7, Ryan 3-4 0-0 6, Anderson 3-5 0-0 6, Phillips 0-1 0-0 0, Pearl 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 28-63 10-12 71.

Halftime - Eastern Washington 37-30. 3-Point Goals - Idaho 4-22 (Barr 2-7, Wilson 1-4, McCorkell 1-1, Ballestero 0-1, Salvatore 0-8, Reilly 0-1), Eastern Washington 5-18 (H. Hodgins 2-6, Nelson 2-6, Redmon 1-3, Phillips 0-1, D. Hodgins 0-2). Fouled Out - none. Rebounds - Idaho 52 (Forde 10), Eastern Washington 36 (Williams 13). Assists - Idaho 14 (Wilson 3, Barr 3, Forde 3), Eastern Washington 19 (Redmon 5). Total fouls - Idaho 18, Eastern Washington 18. Technical Fouls none. A - 704.