The Vandals hit the courts in Ogden, Utah, where they took down the home team 82-77. As the end of the regular season approaches, the Idaho women’s basketball team heads into post-conference with a sweep over Weber State.
Idaho head coach Jon Newlee said this win was crucial to the team’s post-season seeding.
“We had to have this to even have a chance at a first-round bye,” Newlee said. “We will see how it goes. Unfortunately, we coughed it up there in Pocatello. It was in our hands, now it is not. We will just have to wait and see how everything shapes up.”
Idaho jumped out with the lead following a jumper from sophomore guard Taylor Pierce. From there each team took turns claiming the lead. Weber State topped out to end the opening quarter with a one-point lead, 21-20. The second quarter was marked by more lead changes, including six of the 14 throughout the game.
Sophomore guard Mikayla Ferenz tied the game up at 27-27 before going off to hit four consecutive shots. A tip-in from redshirt junior Brooke Reilly brought the game within three to head into half down 42-39.
Ferenz and junior post Geraldine McCorkell teamed up, scoring a combined 29 of Idaho’s 39 points. McCorkell came out with 15 points and was closely followed by Ferenz with 14 points.
Newlee said he emphasized defense after the opening half in order to pull ahead in the final 20 minutes of play.“They scored 42 in the first half today. I told them we had to buckle down and start playing some better defense,” Newlee said. “I told them it was going to come down to stops. I loved the way we gutted it out. We got done nine and I took that timeout. It was going to go one of two ways. I loved the way the team responded.”
The third quarter started slow for the Vandals who came out down just three points but quickly expanded the gap to nine points partway through the third quarter. A couple shots from Pierce closed the margin and pushed Idaho past the opponents, finishing the third quarter on a 12-1 run.
The Vandals held on to the advantage for several minutes before the Wildcats reclaimed the lead.
The lead change was short lived, eventually going back in the Vandal’s favor following a layup from McCorkell. Idaho maintained the lead for the remainder of the game, winning 82-77.
Ferenz finished on top for the Vandal offense, adding an extra 18 points to her first half to end with 32 on the night. McCorkell put up 25 points with a team-high 10 rebounds.
Leading the way for Weber State was Deeshyra Thomas with 26 points.
Newlee said he liked the way the Vandals held the Wildcat offense to seal the win.
“I thought we finally buckled down and started playing really good defense,” Newlee said. “I thought the huge stat was (Weber State) only got four offensive rebounds (for the game). They are an extremely athletic team. I thought we did a great job of limiting them to one shot.”
Idaho returns home to face Northern Arizona 6 p.m. March 1 in the Cowan Spectrum.
Meredith Spelbring can be reached at [email protected]