Northwest Notes March 2, 2010

| March 1, 2010 11:00 PM

Idaho's Kloke garners WAC weekly honor

DENVER - The Western Athletic Conference chose Idaho's Rachele Kloke as Verizon Wireless Women's Player of the Week on Monday after her outstanding performances in the week of Feb. 22-28. The honor is the first of her career.Kloke, a junior from Stanwood, Wash. (Stanwood HS), averaged 21.5 points, 5.0 rebounds and 1.0 steals during the week in leading the Vandal women to a 2-0 record against San Jose State and Utah State to push Idaho to a 7-7 WAC record and fourth-place tie in the standings.

Kloke took over Saturday's 54-53 win at Utah State, as she went 10-of-16 from the floor and 4-of-7 from 3-point range for a career-high 28 points. She scored Idaho's final 12 points in the game, including a 3-pointer to tie it up at 51-51 with 11 seconds remaining, and then the clincher - a buzzer-beating 3-point bomb after USU had taken a two-point lead with 2.5 seconds remaining.In Wednesday's 74-59 win over San Jose State, Kloke hit five of her 10 attempts from the field, including 3-of-4 from 3-point range, and scored 15 points with three rebounds and one steal.

Kloke has scored in the double digits in 12 straight games for Idaho, and leads the team with 16 games of 15 points or more.

UI women golfers ranked

The University of Idaho women's golf team opens the spring season next week with its loftiest ranking in school history.After winning three of five fall tournaments, the Vandals earned two votes in the Golf World/NGCA Golf Coaches' Poll, which was released Monday, as well as a No. 39 ranking by GolfStat.com.

Individually, sophomore Kayla Mortellaro is ranked 33rd by GolfStat.com with a 72.80 scoring average, which translates to an adjusted average of plus-3.491."We are an extremely talented team which has set its goals high and has focused daily on improving our games in preparation for the WAC Championship and NCAA Regional," coach Lisa Johnson said. "Our climb in the rankings is a reflection of each individual's commitment to building our program through hard work, mental toughness, teamwork, and determination."

The Vandals open spring competition at the UNLV Spring Invitational next week.