It all came down to the final minute. The Idaho Vandals women’s basketball team trailed the BYU Cougars by 16 at halftime but had cut the lead to 61-59 with a minute left.
The Cougars’ sophomore guard, Amari Whiting, up two points, took the ball to the top to set up their offense. An excellent ball screen by the Cougars got Whiting free.
She drove to the lane but was quickly swarmed by two Vandals. Out of the Corner of her eye, she spotted redshirt senior Kemery Congdon, and she did the rest.
Whiting reversed, pivoted, and found Congdon from 25 feet. Congdon nailed a three-pointer to put the Cougars up 64-59 with 30 seconds to play.
The Vandals, with the game on the line, needed a basket, and they turned to California State Fullerton transfer sophomore guard Hope Hassmann, who delivered.
Hassmann, who had scored 20 points on the night having made four three-pointers, was ready for the moment. Graduate guard Olivia Nelson threw the inbounds play to Hassmann, five feet behind the three-point line. Hassmann, with ice in her veins, knocked down the three-pointer to cut the lead to 64-62.
The Cougars, led by two late defensive stops by freshman guard Delaney Gibb, closed out the Vandals and got their first win of the season 67-62.
The Vandals outscored the Cougars 36-25 in the second half, but that was not enough to secure the win.
“I felt like we were anxious at the beginning of the game, and it took us a while to figure it out. We got punched in the mouth, but I thought we responded really well,” Head coach Arthur Moreira said.
“The team that played in the second half, if we can be that team for four quarters, we can win a lot of games this year. We fell short at the end, but I felt maybe if we had another two minutes, it could have been a different story.”
The Vandals’ struggles began early. As the Cougars got a 9-0 lead early before Nelson got the Vandals on the board with a layup to stop the run. The Vandals closed the first quarter on a 7-3 run behind graduate forward Jennifer Aaland’s five quick points to close the Cougars lead to 24-13.
The Cougars opened up their largest lead of the game with back-to-back threes by Gibb and Congdon late in the second quarter, pushing the lead to 40-24.
The Vandals came out of the locker room and wanted to make the game a fight. Hassmann knocked down a three, and the Vandals went on a 7-2 run to cut the lead to 44-33.
After that, the Vandals closed the third quarter on an 11-4 run, the Cougars’ lead was 55-45 heading into the final quarter.
The Vandals opened the fourth quarter on a 12-2 run, the once 16-point deficit was now tied at 57. The Vandals fought hard but came up just short in the end.
The Vandals were a different team in the second half. Moreira credits rebounding and resilience as the keys to the comeback.
“Rebounding was a big piece of it,” Moreira said. We gave up nine offensive rebounds out of 21 of their misses in the first half. So, that’s above 40% offensive rebounding rate, which is terrible, so that was the number one adjustment.”
“(Also) we kept talking at halftime that there’s no 16-point plays we got to chip away,” Moreira said. “It was a really fun game; I wish we had come up with the win.”
The Vandals were led by Hassmann, who was terrific all night. Hassmann finished with 23 points, 5/10 from beyond the arc, and a clutch 4/4 from the free-throw line.
Moreira was proud of how Hassmann performed and is even more excited about her potential as a player.
“Hope is amazing she gets better and better every day,” Moreira said.
Hassmann was not the only great performance for the Vandals. Graduate center Rosie Schweizer had ten points and was 4/4 from the free-throw line as well.
Aadland, who had a quiet six points on the offensive night, was huge in the rebounding and shot blocking department which provided a huge spark to the Vandals’ comeback.
Aadland finished with 11 rebounds and two blocks to give the Vandals some extra possessions. Idaho played all 11 players, and they all contributed in some way. As deep as a team as the Vandals’ have, the potential of this team is through the roof.
The Vandals will try to get the first win under Moreira as they travel across the border to take on (1-0) Washington State, a contest that Moreira and the Vandals are looking forward to the challenge.
“Coach Etheridge has done an amazing job there. She’s been completely turned that program around,” Moreira said. “So rebounding is going to be a big piece. Our Ball screen defense is also going to be a big piece.”
The Vandals and Cougars will tip off on Sunday, November 10, at noon. The Vandals are searching for their first win of the season.
Jayden Barfuss can be reached at [email protected]