Idaho took down Northern Arizona 83-68 on its home court Saturday, almost exactly a year after Mikayla Ferenz lit up Flagstaff with a career and program record 41 points.
While Ferenz did not hit that mark this trip around, she put up a team-high 33 points on 11-18 shooting and added nine rebounds, one away from hitting her second double-double of the season.
Ferenz went off and lead the Vandals to victory in another hot-handed game. Junior guard Taylor Pierce and senior post Geraldine McCorkell made strong contributions, with 21 points from Pierce and 13 points and 10 boards for McCorkell. The three of them combined for 67 of Idaho’s final 83 points, a whopping 80 percent of the team’s points.
Meanwhile, the bench contributed just five points.
Granted, three of the five bench players are freshman, but a team with a bench that contributes just five points in an 83-point game is not a championship team. These five points didn’t even come until the final minutes of the game.
The duo of Ferenz and Pierce are clear leaders, both on and off the court so it makes sense that they would lead the charge in points and when they can each put up 20-plus points they set the team up for success.
But the problems come when the duo fails to shoot the lights out, something that is not necessarily achievable in every single contest. The team is then reliant on the other starters and bench to step up.
No one expects and individual bench player to come out and post up 30 points, yet it is completely possible that five players can come up with a similar combined point total.
Throughout conference play, the opponent bench has outscored Idaho 121-63. Before a 22-point performance from the bench against Southern Utah, the last-ranked team in the Big Sky, the Vandals struggled to get find double-digit scoring from the sidelines.
It is clear the starters can score. After the victory over NAU, Ferenz moves into eighth place all-time scoring and is currently ninth in the NCAA in average points per game with 22.2. Both Ferenz and Pierce have flirted with the Idaho record for most made 3-point shots in a game on more than one occasion.
Yet their time is limited with the Idaho basketball program. The future of the team comes from the bench. Again, the majority of them are young and have more than their fair share of time to develop. Who knows, the next “Splash Sisters 2.0” could be currently sitting on the sidelines.
Even with athletes who can put up 30 or more points in a game, the bench is does not show up just to keep the bench warm and maybe contribute a total five points.
“They can score,” Idaho head coach Jon Newlee said of Ferenz and Pierce. “I would love to get some more contributions from some other people. Without a doubt, I thought Ally [Kirby] had a couple good looks from three she was going to knock down, Isabelle was under the weather today and did a great job of playing 15 minutes while sick so the other guys had to step up.”
For the next year and a half, the spotlight will be on Ferenz and Pierce and the other upperclassmen who have lead the team for several years now.
A bright future starts with the bench. While the current bench is not where they may need to be now, they have plenty of time to learn from the best so they are ready when it is their time to shine.
Meredith Spelbring can be reached at [email protected]