Idaho and Northern Colorado overcame a leaky roof before halftime to put on a show for the elementary students in attendance. It was a back-and-forth game with the Vandals holding a 41-38 lead after the first half. The Bears came back from an 11-point deficit a couple times in the fourth, but Idaho was able to hold on for a 73-70 win down in Greeley, Colorado.
Junior guard Hannah Simental led the Bears with 18 points, notching 1,000 total points in her UNC career, but Beyonce Bea cemented herself as the best scorer in the Big Sky. The senior guard/forward scored 28 points and nine rebounds in an incredible game.
In terms of shooting, the first quarter was almost identical between the two teams. Idaho shot 8/15 from the field, 4/6 from three and 1/1 from the free-throw line. Northern Colorado shot 8/12 from the field, 3/6 from beyond the arc and 4/4 from the line. Each team had five assists as well. The only place where stats really differed was in rebounds as UNC had eight to Idaho’s three.
Idaho took the lead at the end of the second quarter, but once again, the stats were very similar. The Vandals shot 8/15 from the field, 2/5 from three, 2/3 from the line and dished out five assists. The Bears went 6/17 from the field, 1/2 from three, 2/2 from the charity stripe and dimed out four assists. Idaho continued to struggle on the boards as they pulled down six while UNC pulled down 12.
Quarter three was one for the ages. Idaho shot well for the first three minutes to grab a seven-point lead but didn’t score again until 4:47. Northern Colorado hit two shots in the first 41 seconds to take a 42-41 lead, but then stalled until 4:29. Despite it being a defensive quarter, Idaho shot 6/10 from the field, 2/5 from three, 3/6 from the line and passed out four assists. Northern Colorado went 6/13 from the field, 1/3 from beyond the arc, 3/4 from the free-throw line, but only put up one assist. However, they still dominated on the boards, pulling down 10 to Idaho’s four.
With only a 58-54 lead in hand, the Vandals were going to have to pull out all the stops to make sure UNC didn’t take this one. They held the Bears to 7/14 overall, 1/5 from three, 1/3 from the free-throw line, three assists and eight rebounds. The Vandals went 5/14 from the field, 1/5 from beyond the arc, 4/5 from the line, dished out two assists and pulled down two rebounds.
Although Idaho was able to hold on, it was a nail-biter at the end. The Vandals emptied the paint and left freshman forward Lauren Andrews wide open. With nowhere else to go, Simental hit Andrews with the inbounds pass, but the ball fell off the front of the rim on the layup, redshirt freshman Brooke Malone took the ball and Idaho won 73-70.
Bea led all scorers with 28 points. She also tacked on nine rebounds and five assists. Graduate student guard/forward Tiana Johnson was huge off the bench for the Vandals as she added 12 points, one rebound, one assist and one steal.
Leading the Bears in scoring was Simental as she put up 18 points. Not far behind was junior forward Delaynie Byrne, who fouled out with 4:44 remaining, with 17 points. All-around, it was redshirt freshman guard Averee Kleinhans that led UNC. She put up 16 points, seven rebounds, four assists and two steals.
The Vandals will continue their road trip as they take on Northern Arizona at noon on Saturday in Flagstaff, Arizona. That game can be streamed live on ESPN+.
James Taurman-Aldrich can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @jamesaldrich25.