Idaho three game win streak as they defeated Weber State, Idaho State and Portland state. However, a bad first quarter held the Vandals back as they lost 77-70 to the Sacramento State Hornets.
The Vandals started the game looking confused and not ready to play. Sac State punished them as the Hornets got out to a quick 6-0 lead with senior guard Kahlaijah Dean scoring a quick four points. The Vandals would get on the board with senior forward/center Beyonce Bea making a layup to make it 6-2. It was all Hornets from there as they outscored the Vandals 21-6 to take a 27-8 lead in the first quarter.
Head Coach Jon Newlee was frustrated with how the Vandals played in the first quarter.
“We had defensive mistake after defensive mistake,” he said. “There was no communication, (and) we did not follow the gameplan.”
Bea and junior guard Sydney Gandy finished with four points each while the Vandals shot 3/15 from the field, 1/8 from beyond the arc and 2/2 from the free-throw line.
The Hornets had an efficient quarter, shooting 10/14 from the field, 3/6 from three and a perfect 4/4 from the line. Dean led the Hornets with seven points in the quarter.
Hoping to get back on script, the Vandals had a much better second quarter. After a Dean three pointer and another layup by the Hornets, the Vandals went on a 6-0 run to cut the lead to 32-17. The Vandals would battle, but again the Hornets kept adding to their lead. They were able to extend it to 44-22 before freshman guard Asha Phillips made two free throws and cut the Hornets lead to 44-24 to end the first half.
Dean led the Hornets again with five points in the quarter. The team shot 6/16 from the field, 3/10 from three and 2/2 from the free-throw line. The Vandals were led by Gandy with three points in the quarter. Overall, they shot 4/11 from the field, 3/7 from three and 5/7 from the line.
The halftime speech must have been a good one. The Vandals came out and jumped on the Hornets, going on a10-5 run to cut the Hornets lead to 49-31. The Hornets answered with six-straight points, putting them up 56-36. A three pointer and a layup by the hornets had them up 61-39 before the Vandals clamped down. Idaho ended the third quarter on a 6-0 run, cutting the game to just 61-47 heading into the fourth quarter.
Bea came alive for the Vandals, scoring a team high of 10 points in the third quarter. The Vandals kept shooting better as the game went on. The third quarter featured a game high 8/14 from the floor, 3/6 from three-point range and 4/7 from the free throw line. The Vandals outscored the Hornets 23-17 in the quarter and set up an interesting and competitive fourth quarter.
The Hornets would come out of the quarter and nail a three to push the lead back to 17. The Vandals came back with five unanswered to make the game 64-52. The Vandals followed up with a 4-0 run before freshman guard Rosa Smith made two free throws to cut the game to 66-58. On the ensuing Sac State possession, the freshman showed her poise as Smith put her body in front of Dean to draw an offensive foul and get the ball back.
After a big Idaho run to make it an eight-point game, a turnover by Bea gave the Hornets the chance to go up by more. Redshirt freshman Brooke Malone would not let that happen as she stole the inbounds pass and went all the way to the rim, laying in the ball making the game just 66-60.
Another miss by the Hornets set the Vandals up and Bea delivered. She drove to the lane and took it to the rim again. The senior would be denied as she hit the layup to cut the Hornets lead to 66-62.
The Hornets would finally stop the bleeding as they made a layup to put them back up by six. Smith would keep her amazing fourth quarter rolling as she drained a corner three to cut the lead to 68-65. The Hornets followed Smith’s shot with a layup by junior center Isnelle Natabou to put the Hornets back up 70-65.
Bea would cut the lead to three, but after a controversial offensive foul call on Smith, the Hornets were able to hang on to win 77-70, ending the Vandals three game winning streak.
Smith and Bea led Idaho in the quarter with eight. The Vandals shot 7/13 from the field, 3/8 from three and a perfect 6/6 from the free-throw line. Dean finished the fourth with two points as the Hornets went 5/13 from the field, 2/8 from three and 4/6 from the free-throw line.
Bea led all scorers with 24 points, scoring 18 in the second half. She was an efficient 10/19 from the field, 1/3 from downtown and 3/3 from the line. She also added 10 rebounds to get her tenth double-double of the season. Smith added 11 points, eight of which came in the fourth. She was 3/4 from three and 2/2 from the line.
Gandy landed back in double digits with 10 points, going 2/10 from the field, 2/8 from three and 4/5 from the line. Malone was an immense help with seven points, three rebounds and three huge steals. She shot 2/3 from the field, 0/1 from three and 3/6 from the free-throw line.
Dean led the Hornets with 19 points, shooting 6/13 from the field, 3/5 from three and 4/4 from the free-throw line. Natabou added 12 points to help the Hornets secure the win.
Coach Newlee was proud of the way his team responded when down big.
“I thought we did a great job (to get) back in it,” Newlee said. “I thought the crew in the fourth quarter in particular did a great job of sticking with it.”
With the loss, the Vandals drop to 9-14 (5-7). The Vandals will have a week to regroup before they take on the Eastern Washington Eagles at ICCU Arena on Feb. 11 at 1 p.m. Idaho will be looking to rebound after a tough loss and avenge their loss to Eastern earlier in the season.
Jayden Barfuss can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @JaydenBarfuss10