The Idaho women’s basketball team spent a few days in Cancun, Mexico, over Thanksgiving break – but rather than vacation, the Vandals appeared to be there strictly on business.
The Vandals finished 2-1 at the Cancun Challenge, including two 20-plus point margin wins and a near-upset of the 15th-ranked Duke Blue Devils.
Idaho sophomore post Geraldine McCorkell averaged almost 20 points per game over the three-game span.
Idaho (5-1) will play Northwest Christian at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Memorial Gym.
Thursday: Duke 74, Idaho 68
The Vandals almost knocked off Duke, a team known as a consistent national contender. Idaho cut the Blue Devils’ lead to four points with 4:51 left in the game.
The Blue Devils led 36-27 at halftime but the Vandals outscored Duke 41-38 in the second half to nearly pull off the upset.
McCorkell led Idaho with 18 points and Salvatore nearly had a double-double as she finished with 15 points, nine rebounds and five steals.
“We did a great job of executing the game plan,” Newlee said. “Once we settled down and did not worry about the name on the chest across from us, we played Vandal basketball.”
Friday: Idaho 75, Texas State 55
Idaho led 30-29 at halftime but the Vandals outscored Texas State 45-26 in the second half to win.
The Vandals shot 59.3 percent from the field in the second half and 51.9 percent for the game.
“I told the team at the half that we needed to clean some things up,” Newlee said. “We could have put them away in the second quarter. The first five minutes of the second half we had to come out and play Vandal basketball.”
McCorkell led all scorers with 18 points on 8 of 13 shooting and grabbed eight rebounds. Senior post Ali Forde had a double-double with 15 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks, and senior guard Christina Salvatore added 16 points – including 4 of 5 from 3-point range – and eight rebounds.
Saturday: Idaho 97, Iowa State 65
Idaho freshman guard Taylor Pierce set a new school record by knocking down nine 3-point shots in Idaho’s win over the Iowa State Cyclones.
Pierce finished with 27 points in Idaho’s third and final game of the Cancun Challenge.
“My teammates and coaches kept telling me to keep shooting,” Pierce said. “Most of them were pretty open so they were not too difficult to knock down. My teammates did a good job getting me open.”
The Vandals hit 17 3-pointers as a team, matching the school record in which the Vandals set earlier in the season against California State-Northridge.
McCorkell finished with 24 points and 12 rebounds. She shot 9 of 12 from the field.
Senior guard Connie Ballestero had 12 points and eight assists for the Vandals.
The Vandals scored 65 points in the second half, shooting 60 percent from the field.
“To be able to do this against such a fantastically coached team that has continuously been in the NCAA Tournament is fantastic for us,” Idaho coach Jon Newlee said. “To come out and compete like we did in this tournament was amazing.”
Garrett Cabeza can be reached at [email protected]