The Vandals entered ICCU Arena on Thursday looking for the season sweep, and first win in ICCU Arena, over their in-state rival, the Idaho State Bengals. Idaho was able to overcome their second-half woes to defeat the Bengals 60-54 in a hard-fought and scrappy game.
Freshman guard Rosa Smith got the Vandals on the board with a layup after just over a minute of play. Redshirt freshman guard Sophie Covello answered with a three-pointer to get the Bengals the lead at 3-2. The game went back-and-forth before a media timeout after five minutes into the first quarter.
Senior forward/center Beyonce Bea scored the next four points to extend Idaho’s lead to 16-11. The Vandals closed the quarter on a 7-5 run to take a 23-15 lead into the second quarter.
The Vandals were an impressive 8/15 from the field, 3/7 from three and a perfect 4/4 from the line. The Bengals were 5/15 from the field, 1/1 from three and 4/5 from the line. The Bengals were led by graduate guard Callie Bourne with six points, and Bea led the Vandals with 11.
In the second quarter, the Bengals got the scoring started as sophomore center Laura Bello cut the Vandals’ lead to 23-17. After an and-one by Smith, the Vandals had their largest lead of the game, as they led the Bengals 26-17. The Bengals were no match for the Vandals in the quarter after a three-pointer by Bea to put the Vandals up 32-19. With the Vandals lead at 13, Idaho State head coach Seton Sobolewski’s frustration boiled over during a timeout. Sobolewski rushed to half-court during the media timeout and got himself a technical foul.
Bea hit the two technical free throws, then redshirt freshman forward, and former Bengal, Brooke Malone nailed a three-pointer to push the lead to 37-19. The Vandals outscored the Bengals 5-3 the rest of the way to take a 43-22 lead into the locker room. The Vandals’ defense was spectacular in the second quarter as they held the Bengals to seven points.
The Bengals shot 3/12 from the field, 0/3 from three and 1/2 from the free-throw line. The Vandals were 6/11 from the field, 4/7 from three and 4/5 from the line. Bourne once again was the Bengals leading scorer with five in the quarter, giving her 11 at the half. Bea led the Vandals, also with five, to push her to 16 points in the half.
The Bengals came out ready to play in the second half. They started on a 10-3 run to cut the Vandals’ lead to 46-32, and they didn’t stop there. The Bengals kept cutting into the lead as the Vandals struggled offensively in the third quarter. After a three-pointer by Bengals’ redshirt freshman guard Camryn Collman, the Bengals had clawed their way back, and the Vandals once 21-point lead was down to 47-37. The Vandals were able to hold on and close the quarter on a 4-0 run, pushing their lead to 51-37.
The Bengals were much improved in the third, shooting 6/17 from the field and 3/6 from beyond the arc. Bourne added three to her tally, getting her to 14 in the game. The Vandals shot poorly in the third quarter, going 2/10 from the field, 1/4 from three and 3/4 from the line.
Bea got the Vandals started with a jumper to open the fourth quarter. After five quick points by the Bengals, the game was just 53-42. Bea would score again for the Vandals to hold on to a comfortable lead. The Bengals kept fighting, and after a layup by Bello they cut the Vandals’ lead down to 57-50. Although it got close in the end, the Vandals held off the Bengals to win 64-54 to pick up the season sweep of the Bengals, and their first win against Idaho State in ICCU Arena.
Idaho State had their best scoring quarter, going 8/19 from the field and 1/3 from three. The Vandals had another poor quarter offensively, shooting 3/13 from the field, 0/4 from three and 3/4 from the free-throw line. Bourne was great for the Bengals as she finished with 23 points, nine rebounds and five assists. She was 9/27 overall, 2/5 from beyond the arc and 3/5 from the line. Bello added 10 points and nine rebounds.
Bea had another awesome night putting up 27 points and nine rebounds while going 9/15 from the field, 3/3 from three and 6/6 from the line. Graduate student guard/forward Tiana Johnson added 11 points, going 3/6 from the field, 2/3 from three and 3/4 from the line. Freshman guard Asha Phillips gave the Vandals big bench points as she ended with eight points, shooting 2/3 from three.
Although they came away with the win, head coach Jon Newlee was not pleased with how the Vandals played in the second half.
“We slogged around (while) they made it the type of game they wanted,” he said. “We need to handle that better.”
With the win, the Vandals improved to 12-15 and 8-8 in conference play with one home game remaining.
“It’s going to be huge,” coach Newlee said. “It’s the last home game, and a lot is on the line seeding-wise for the tournament.”
The Vandals will play Weber at 7 p.m. on Saturday as they look to close out their last home regular season game with some momentum going into the conference tournament.
Jayden Barfuss can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @JaydenBarfuss10.