Lady 'Cats Start Slow

The Weber State University Women's Basketball Team faced a challenge in its first and only exhibition game of the season against a scrappy College of Idaho team Monday night at the Dee Events Center. The Idaho Coyotes - a liberal arts college out of Caldwell, Idaho - pressured the Lady Wildcats with a full-court press from the very beginning of the game. "Their defensive intensity dictated the entire game - their effort and their scrappiness on the defensive game," said WSU Head Coach Carla Taylor. "We've got to give them credit. They dictated, and we allowed them to dictate. We made choices that were not things we worked on and talked about." The 'Cats struggled to find a rhythm throughout the duration of the first half. The game was almost totally played in transition. The Coyotes appeared to be the better-conditioned team, already used to their run-and-gun style. The Wildcats were huffing and puffing coming off the court. "I just thought they outplayed us," Taylor said. "Bottom line is they stepped on the floor, and they played hard defensively, and they rebounded their butts off. That's what wins games." The Wildcats strung together a few points at the end of the half, apparently figuring out the press for the moment. WSU took a narrow 34-33 lead into halftime. Idaho came out with what appeared to be almost more pressure on the ball in the second half, and the fatigued Wildcats continued to just scrape by. Both teams alternated leads throughout the second half, but the Coyotes pulled away when it mattered most, making a big shot with 2:14 left in regulation and giving them a 66-65 lead. Taylor called a timeout at that point to draw up an inbounds play. The Wildcats, however, failed to execute the play as Idaho keyed in, stole the ball and went down to court to finish off the 'Cats in the final minutes, winning the game 69-65. "In critical times down the stretch, we were in the zone, they missed the shot, but we gave up critical offensive rebounds," Taylor said. "Then in our offensive end, we gave up critical turnovers." All-in-all it was just a disjointed and disappointing effort for the 'Cats who will try to figure out their woes quickly before the start of the regular season schedule. "We weren't together on the same page offensively," Taylor said. "We weren't together on the same page defensively. They tried hard, they worked hard, but they were only doing their little part instead of their part together at both ends." Tonya Schnibbe led the Wildcats in the game with 15 points on 6-of-13 shooting. She also had a game-high six assists and three steals. Abby Thorderson had nine points for the 'Cats in what was the first game of her collegiate career. Abby's sister Ali Thorderson and Mikell Woodfield added eight points for WSU. WSU's Caitlin Anderson had a rough night from the floor, just hitting one-of-11 shots, but she pulled down a team-high nine rebounds. The Coyotes had four players in double-figures, led by ShaNae Horner's 17. The Wildcats are now finished with what was a very brief exhibition schedule and will get right into regular-season play Nov. 11 at the University of Nebraska.