Reeling from relinquishing a 16-point lead in a home loss to Utah State last Saturday night the Idaho women’s basketball team picked itself back up Thursday night with a 68-60 win at Denver.
Amrah Canul | Argonaut
Vandal guard Alyssa Charlston attempts a 3-point shot over Redhawk forward Brenda Adhiambo Dec. 29 in the Cowan Spectrum.
Neither team shot particularly well but it was Idaho, putting up one of its best defensive performances of the season, that held Denver to only 32-percent shooting from the field (24-75).
The Vandals jumped out to an early 18-8 only to go through a six-minute bucket-less drought, which saw the Pioneers cut the lead in half. Idaho took a 28-22 lead in to the half and spent the better part of the second half fending off a Pioneer push.
With the game tied at 47-apiece with 7:42 remaining in the game, the Vandals pulled away and held on to the lead late.
Efficiency won Idaho the game, considering its opponent took 19 more shots from the field, but the Vandals shot from the floor, sank five more 3-pointers than its opponent and went 20-25 from the free-throw floor compared to Denver’s 9-14.
It was a well-rounded scoring effort with Stacey Barr and Alyssa Charlston contributing 17-points each, with Addie Schivo adding 16. Charlston ended the game with a double-double, also leading Idaho in rebounds with 14. Freshman Ali Forde also collected double-digit boards with 10 and Jessica Graham contributed nine.
Idaho will travel to Las Cruces to face off against New Mexico State before coming home next week for a home stand against La. Tech and Texas-Arlington.
Sean Kramer can be reached at [email protected]