It might be a new year for the Vandals, but the team still has the same winning formula.
The Idaho women’s basketball team emerged with a 66-56 win over Northern Colorado Saturday at the Cowan Spectrum.
The win boosts the Vandals record to 10-4 overall and 2-0 in Big Sky Conference play.
Sophomore Geraldine McCorkell lead the Vandals with a double-double, scoring 17 points and collecting 10 rebounds as well as three assists.
Senior guard Christina Salvatore and senior post Ali Forde contributed 10 points apiece for Idaho.
Forde, McCorkell and senior guard Connie Ballestero all went 4-4 from the free throw line in the win.
Idaho shot 93 percent overall from the charity stripe, 40 percent from the field and 37 percent from inside the key.
Similar to previous games, the Vandals took an early lead in the first quarter and did not relent.
A layup by McCorkell six minutes into the first quarter initially put Idaho ahead 6-4.
The Vandals ended the first quarter with a 18-13 lead.
In the second quarter, senior post Renae Mokrzycki added two points from the free throw line. The conversions continued a streak of 10 consecutive free throws over the past four games.
The second quarter ended with a three from Salvatore , as the Vandals took a 37-28 lead.
Idaho struggled in the third quarter by scoring only nine points, but it was enough to keep the lead over Northern Colorado.
The Vandals relied on six points from junior point guard Karlee Wilson and three points from freshman guard Taylor Pierce to end the third quarter with a 46-38 lead.
Forde began the fourth quarter by scoring four points for the Vandals.
McCorkell increased the gap with three treys in a row to increase the lead to twelve..
Idaho ended the game with a three-pointer, a layup and two free throws from senior guard Connie Ballestero.
The Vandals ended up taking the victory by a final score of 66-56.
Forde’s six rebounds on the night moved her into a tie for sixth place in all-time career rebounds for the Vandals. She is currently tied with Dana Fish, who had 778 career rebounds while at Idaho.
Salvatore is tied for 10th all-time on the record list with Mary Westerwell, who collected 646 career rebounds.
Kourteney Zadina led Northern Colorado with 19 points and three rebounds. Rebecca Howell added six rebounds and Savannah Scott recorded three assists.
Idaho is 2-0 in conference play for the first time since the 2013-2014 season.
Idaho is scheduled to face Eastern Washington at 2 p.m. Saturday at the Cowan Spectrum.
Tess Fox can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @tesstakesphotos