Senior post Ali Forde led the Vandals to an 84-63 victory over Portland State Thursday, scoring 17 points and collecting 11 rebounds in the win.
Forde also moved up in Vandal history during the win, passing Alyssa Charleston’s fourth place record of 855 rebounds. Forde now has a total of 862 rebounds throughout her career.
Charleston, a former Vandal herself, was the announcer of the game and congratulated Forde after her performance tonight.
“(Forde) has always been a great rebounder from the time she got here,” Idaho head coach Jon Newlee said. “She’s extremely athletic. She’s got a great nose for the ball and she’s a very aggressive rebounder.”
Forde said taking a strong stance under the basket has been her main focus lately, and she felt she executed her plan against the Vikings.
Senior Christina Salvatore also proved to be an influential component in the victory over the Vikings. The senior left her usual position as a guard and filled the role of point guard after junior Karlee Wilson ended up in foul trouble.
“(Salvatore) is an all-around good player whether you put her in as a guard or a point guard,” Idaho senior Renae Mokrzycki said. “She knows how to get the ball to every player on the court, and she’s got eyes for every spot on the court.”
Salvatore scored 4 points, collected seven rebounds, and finished with a career-high nine assists.
The Vandal bench players were responsible for 49 of Idaho’s 84 points.
“I think it really changed things around, like bringing Taylor (Pierce), Renae (Mokrzycki) and then Mikayla (Ferenz) — I think it kind of picked up our energy level,” Newlee said. “I was really happy when those three came in and got things going for us.”
Due to a slew of previous injuries, the Vikings were only able to suit up seven players to compete. Mokrzycki said the Vandals wanted to use it to their advantage and tire their opponent early on.
“It’s also good knowing the bench players will take over,” Mokrzycki said. “We won’t lose any effort or any skill on the court because if we sub our players, we know that every is going to get in a play hard.”
Newlee said the strong performance from the bench was expected.
“Our bench has been playing great all year though,” Newlee said. “They’ve come in and done that against everybody.”
Mihaela Karst can be reached at [email protected]