The Idaho Vandals have caught fire late in the season. After a 68-61 Battle of the Domes victory over Idaho State, Idaho stayed hot with a 77-70 win over the Portland State Vikings to claim their third victory in a row.
The Vandals came into the game 8-13 (4-6) with two straight victories. The Vikings stood at 9-10 (4-5).
The game started fast for the Vikings as they got the first points off a layup from sophomore guard Esmeralda Morales. The Vandals would get their first points with two free throws by redshirt freshman forward Brooke Malone, cutting the lead to 4-2.
The Vikings would jump out to an 11-5 run before Idaho answered back with a 4-0 run of their own to make the game 11-10. The Vikings would go on another 8-3 run to close the quarter out up 18-13.
Portland State was effective shooting the ball as they went 7/18 shooting, making both of their three-point attempts, and going a perfect 2/2 from the free-throw line. They were led by Morales, who finished with seven points in the quarter.
Idaho did not have a good quarter shooting as they were 4/14 from the field and 2/6 from three-point range. However, they were a perfect 3/3 from the free-throw line. The Vandals were led by senior forward/center Beyonce Bea, sophomore guard Ashlyn Wallace and junior guard Sydney Gandy all with three points.
Idaho got hot in the second quarter with the Vikings starting out on a 5-2 run before the Vandals would counter with a 4-0 run to cut the lead down to 24-22.
The game would go back and forth with both teams heating up, but the Vandals closed the quarter on a 10-0 run, pushing their lead to 32-26 heading into halftime. The Vandals had their best shooting quarter of the game as they went 8/13 from the field, 1/3 from the three-point line and 2/2 from the free-throw line. Bea had a strong quarter, adding 11 for the Vandals to help them gain and extend their lead.
The Vikings shot 3/12 from the field and 2/6 from three to score eight points in the quarter. After leading in the first quarter, Morales was held scoreless in the second.
Coming out of halftime, both teams showed their offensive firepower. They went back-and-forth with the largest lead being 40-35 Vandals. Portland State would retake the lead with a basket by Morales to put them up 43-42.
The Vandals answered right back with Bea taking the lead for the Vandals. With a two-point lead and 19 seconds left, Malone hit a layup to extend Idaho’s lead to 52-48.
The Vandals had another impressive quarter going 9/15 from the field and 2/5 from three. Bea led the Vandals with seven points in the quarter to help the Vandals carry their lead into the fourth.
The Vikings improved their shooting as they went 7/14 from the field, an amazing 6/8 from three and 2/2 from the free-throw line. Morales, after going scoreless in the second. had ten points in the quarter to lead the Vikings in the third.
Idaho was ready to shut the door on the Vikings, and freshman forward Sarah Brans got it started with a three pointer to push the lead to 55-48. Idaho got a stop and Bea made a layup to push the Vandals’ lead to nine points.
The game tightened up with the Vikings cutting it down to three points with a Morales layup. The Vandals followed with a 4-2 run, pushing the lead to 70-65. With the time ticking down, the Vandals needed to make free throws to put the game away.
Bea hit two to put Idaho up seven. The Vandals made seven of their next eight free shots to put the game away with a 77-70 victory.
The Vandals finished the game shooting 8/13 from the field, 1/3 from three and went an amazing 8/9 from the free-throw line.
The Vikings went 8/20 from the field, 3/11 from beyond the arc and 3/4 from the line. With the loss, Portland State drops to 9-11 (4-6). The Vandals third win in a row improves them to 9-13 on the year and 5-6 in conference play.
The Vikings were led by Morales with 26 points. She shot 10/25 from the field, 3/6 from three and a perfect 3/3 from the line. Sophomore forward/guard Alaya Fitzgerald added 15 points going 5/10 from the field, 3/6 from beyond the arc and 2/2 from the line.
The Vandals were led by Bea who had another amazing game. She ended with 30 points, 10 rebounds, went 12/19 from the field and was a perfect 6/6 from the free-throw line. Brans would add a career high 16 points, going 7/11 from the field and 2/3 from three-point range.
The Vandals will try to extend their win streak and get win number 10 today when they welcome Sacramento State to ICCU Arena at 2 p.m.
Jayden Barfuss can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @JaydenBarfuss10.