Two questions, one answer.

"We’re young," Idaho women’s basketball coach Mike Divilbiss said. "We have absolutely no room for error. We can’t have people getting hurt. We’re just very thin in terms of experience and talent. We have some talent but we’re thin.

"Our youth is our strength as well," the third-year coach continued. "The experience our young kids are going to get, next year we’re going to be able to say we have 10 kids returning . . . now you feel like you add a couple more and you’re making some headway."

The Vandals had trouble before they got started with injuries prematurely ending the career of the top returning scorer (Alyssa Erickson, 12.6 ppg) and knocking out Autumn Fielding, an All-Freshman pick last year (12.1 ppg) until mid-December.

Also, Keisha Moore, last year’s leading rebounder (8.2) and only player taller than 6-foot, left the team in the preseason and transferred to Washington State.

But that doesn’t mean Divilbiss is unhappy.

"We’re very pleased with the effort the kids have made," he said. "We’re not all the way there. They really did a great job all fall. They work really hard. They’re committed kids for the most part."

Had Fielding not had surgery, four members of the 2000 Kennewick Washington State 4A championship team would have started with freshman point guard Leilani Mitchell and Seattle Pacific transfer Emily Faurholt joining Heather Thoelke.

Mitchell is a quick 5-5 point guard and Faurholt a 5-11 post who averaged 11.1 points and 5.6 rebounds at SPU.

"You put kids like Leilani out there and Emily Faurholt, those two kids being at the one and the five, we’re going to be better right away," Divilbiss said. "You build your program around the one and the five, that’s a pretty good place to start."

Thoelke is a 6-foot junior who averaged 12.3 points last year.

Ticey Westbrooks, a 5-8 freshman from Washington State 4A champion Prairie, starts opposite Thoelke at the other wing. The other starter is 5-11 senior post Taylor Benson (7.9 ppg).

Veteran Courtney Goetz, a 6-foot senior, is the backup post but the other two key reserves are freshmen, Karly Felton, a 5-11 wing from Yakima, and Emily Halliday, a 5-7 wing from Pasco.

The Vandals went 2-10 in non-conference games last year but were 8-8 in the Big West.

"One year can’t dig us out from what we’ve been trying to dig out from," Divilbiss said. "It doesn’t happen overnight but now we feel like in our second recruiting class we have the group of kids we want to build with. They’re our kinds of kids. They’re talented, we have some quickness, but most importantly they’re focused about basketball. They want to play, they want to improve, they want to work on their game. That’s not what kids at Idaho have been. It’s going to take some time."