Seattle University led the entire game until Idaho sophomore post Geraldine McCorkell knocked down a 3-pointer to put the Vandals up 62-60 with 16.2 seconds left in the game.
The 3-pointer turned out to be the game-winning shot as the Idaho women’s basketball team stormed back to beat Seattle 64-60 Monday night at the Memorial Gym. It was the Vandals’ sixth straight win against the Redhawks.
McCorkell said she tries to spend 10 to 20 minutes after practice shooting 3-pointers with one of the Idaho coaches.
“She stays after practice every single day and takes extra shots,” Idaho coach Jon Newlee said. “Shot after shot after shot. To see that hard work rewarded is fantastic for her.”
McCorkell sealed the game by making two free throws to extend Idaho’s lead to 64-60 with four seconds left.
The Melbourne, Australia, native finished the night with a career-high 22 points – 20 of those points coming in the second half. She filled the stat sheet with four blocks and three steals.
“I’m really happy,” McCorkell said. “I’m just glad that we got the win because we were really fighting and we’ve been working on our defense a lot and I think that showed tonight because we kept fighting and I think we held them to 25 turnovers so that’s a really good start for us.”
The Redhawks led 60-51 with 1:54 left in the game but the Vandals outscored Seattle 13-0 to end the game. Idaho outscored Seattle 20-9 in the fourth quarter.
Idaho senior guard Christina Salvatore hit a 3-pointer to cut Seattle’s lead to 60-54 and then McCorkell nailed a 3-pointer to shave the lead to 60-57 with 1:27 left in the game. A Salvatore layup cut the lead to one point with 59 seconds left.
Idaho’s defense kept the Vandals in the game.
The Redhawks shot 38.9 percent from the field and turned the ball over 25 times.
“I thought we ramped up our pressure nicely on the ball,” Newlee said. “I thought Connie (Ballestero) and Karlee (Wilson), though Karlee in particular was really giving them fits on the perimeter and not letting them get into their sets.”
Salvatore finished with 14 points on 4 of 11 shooting from 3-point range and led the team with four steals.
Newlee said Idaho hadn’t seen a zone defense to that point in the season so the Redhawks’ zone caused the Idaho offense to struggle early in the game. Newlee said Idaho missed easy shots early on also.
Garrett Cabeza can be reached at [email protected]