The Idaho women’s basketball team got its third straight victory with a 70-64 win over Denver on Saturday in a hard fought, physical matchup.
Alyssa Charlston makes her way past a Denver defender for two more Vandal points during their game Saturday in Cowan Spectrum. The Vandals took home a win 70-64 and will travel to Arlington Texas Thursday to face UT Arlington.
Idaho used a run in the second half to take a commanding lead and managed to hold onto it until the end. Idaho has struggled with giving up leads at times this season and almost did it again against Denver, but held on long enough to nab a six-point win.
Coming up
The Vandals will be back on the road this week, traveling to Texas-Arlington and La. Tech. Idaho beat UTA earlier in the year, but lost to La. Tech. The Vandals are sitting in third place in the conference standings and will need to keep winning to stay near the top.
Starters
Christina Salvatore- 4 stars
Salvatore was once again an offensive force for Idaho, putting up 16 points and pulling down seven boards. She was instrumental in keeping pace with Denver throughout the game and helping Idaho build a lead. It was just another solid game from the freshman, who is going to be a force to be reckoned with in the coming years.
Stacey Barr- 3.5 stars
Barr put up six points and had six rebounds in 25 minutes of play for a decent night, but where she excelled was in plays that don’t show up on the stat sheets. Her effort was respectable, whether it was chasing down a loose ball or taking a charge, she’s like a spark plug that energized the team.
Ali Forde- 3.5 stars
After putting up a career-high 20 points earlier in the week, Forde followed it up with another solid night with nine points and seven rebounds. She also added four blocks on the defensive side. It was a physical game and Forde stepped up to the challenge in the paint and helped Idaho secure the win.
Alyssa Charlston- 5 stars
Every team needs a player they can go to when the game is on the line and for Idaho, that’s Charlston. She put up 20 points and took the big shots for Idaho that stopped Denver’s runs and gave Idaho momentum. She’s the team leader for a reason. In a team where anyone is capable having a big offensive night, Charlston is the one they still lean on.
Connie Ballestero- 3.5 stars
Ballestero had a decent night running the offense as she tallied nine assists while putting up four points. She found the open players and got them the ball, and you can’t ask for more than that out of the freshman point guard.
Bench- 3 stars
Idaho coach Jon Newlee didn’t go deep into the bench in this one, playing just three bench players. Altogether Idaho’s bench put up 15 points, but where they were instrumental is filling in for Salvatore and Charlston when they got in foul trouble. All in all Idaho’s bench was solid and key to the victory,
especially with how
many fouls were called in the game.
Kevin Bingaman can be reached at [email protected]