As the first snowstorm in Moscow fell, 1,049 fans gathered inside the ICCU Arena and were not disappointed. It was a back-and-forth thriller that eventually ended in a 72-71 Vandals’ loss to Texas A&M – Commerce, dropping them to 4-3 on the season.
The Vandals came into the game off the back of a 70-43 win over Utah State and got off to another hot start as graduate student guard Amalie Langer drilled a three-pointer to get the game’s first points.
The game would not slow down from there, with both teams going back and forth. After a wild end to the first quarter, the Vandals and Lions ended tied at 17. Graduate student forward Hope Butera led all scorers with eight points.
The second quarter picked up just where the first left off, with the Vandals scoring most of their points down low. With the game going back and forth, no one could get a firm lead until the Vandals went on a 7-0 run and pushed their lead to 34-27, forcing the Lions to call a timeout.
The Lions ended the quarter on a 5-0 run and cut the Vandals lead to 34-32 heading into the locker room. The Vandals were efficient on offense in the first half. Idaho went 16/39 from the field and an underwhelming 2/11 from three.
The Lions were not as great at shooting the ball in the first half. The Lions went 12/36 from the field, 4/9 from three, and a perfect 4/4 from the free-throw line. Butera led all scorers in the first half with 14 points.
The third quarter was a quarter to forget for the Vandals. After a Butera layup, the Vandals struggled offensively. The Lions outscored the Vandals 22-12 in the quarter and took a 54-46 lead into the fourth quarter. The Vandals woke up just under three minutes into the quarter, with the Lions up 60-52.
Idaho cut the game to five and after another Lions missed shot, junior forward Kennedy Johnson threw a nearly full-court pass to graduate guard Sarah Schmitt and made the layup through contact, narrowing the Lions’ lead to 60-57.
Schmitt made her free throw, cutting the lead to two. Another stop by the Vandals led to a Johnson three-pointer and the Vandals regaining the lead 61-60. After that, the game would go back and forth, leading to an exciting finish.
With the Lions up 70-69, Langer drove into the paint and knocked down a tough contested layup to give the Vandals the 71-70 lead with 16 seconds left. The Vandals needed a stop, but as fate would have it, they could not get one.
Junior guard Mia Deck made a go-ahead layup with eight seconds left to give the Lions the 72-71 lead. The Vandals missed a last-second layup and dropped the back-and-forth thriller 72-71. The Vandals finished the game shooting 30/71, 3/18 from the three-point line, and 8/9 from the free-throw line.
The Lions were more efficient on fewer shot attempts. They finished 28/63 from the field, 6/14 from three, and 10/12 from the free throw line. Butera led all scorers with 23 points. She also grabbed 16 rebounds for the Vandals. Johnson and Schmitt both added 11 to help the Vandals.
Deck led the Lions in scoring with 18 points, and junior guard Jordyn Newsome added 16 for the Lions.
“It was kind of one of those games where it was two different styles colliding, and it was a battle for who could establish the pace they wanted to play at,” Head Coach Carrie Eighmey said.
Eighmey liked her team’s fight especially early in the fourth quarter saying, “I think our teams showed resilience, a lot of grit in that stretch there when we were down eight.”
Butera had a career-high in points and rebounds tonight, and Eighmey was pleased with her performance.
“Hope did a great job of being aggressive, establishing herself in the paint, and continuing to want the ball, something she hasn’t necessarily shown up to this point. It was great to see her like that,” she said.
The Vandals will have a week to recover from this game before they travel to Eugene, Oregon, and take on the 4-2 Oregon Ducks on Dec. 8 at 6 p.m. as they look to rebound and get back in the win column.
Jayden Barfuss can be reached at [email protected] on X @JaydenBarfuss10