The Idaho Vandals got off to a sizzling start, as from the start of the game the Vandals were on a mission to put the University of Montana Grizzlies to sleep at their game on Jan. 20. Behind a 14-0 run, the Vandals took control of the game and held the lead for 40 minutes to get a 70-57 victory and a season sweep of the Grizzlies.
With the Vandals up 2-0, junior guard Anja Bukvic got the ball and drove to the free-throw line. She then saw a wide-open sophomore guard Hope Hassmann. She dished it to Hassmann who swished the three-pointer to push the Vandals’ lead to 5-0 and give Hassmann her first three-pointer in two games.
Hassmann struggled shooting in the last two games and had just eight combined points in those games. She was successful in scoring 13 points and nine assists this game, which was a huge help to her team.
“Going into this game, my thought [was] we just want to get the sweep as a team,” Hassmann said. “I want to do anything personally to help us get the win, whether that was making an assist today or hitting shots when they’re open; that was just really important to me. I can’t control how some games go, but if we get the win, that’s the one thing and most important to me and my team.”
Even with the struggles, Head Coach Arthur Moreira never wavered in his trust for Hassmann to help the Vandals even when she was struggling with shooting.
“There’s a reason that even when she wasn’t shooting well, I left her in for 36 minutes last week. She’s just willing to do whatever it takes for us. She’s one of our best leaders and she truly cares,” Moreira said.
Hassmann reciprocates Moreira’s trust, and her relationship with Moreira and her team is one of the main reasons she came to Idaho.
“it just means a lot. That’s the reason why I committed here. I want to win games,” Hassmann said. “I feel like we have exactly the right roster to do that. That’s something that’s close to my heart, and I always want to do it with this team because I know we can get far.”
The Vandals kept their foot on the gas and pushed their lead to 14-0 before Montana got their first points. The Grizzlies fought back behind a strong late push to the quarter and the Vandals led 20-11 going into the second quarter.
Throughout the first half, the Vandals played through foul trouble. When graduate forwards Rosie Schweize and Jennifer Aadland picking up their second foul in the second quarter, the Vandals needed their bench to step up in their absence.
The Vandals bench responded, and junior forward Sarah Brans and redshirt freshman guard Ana Beatriz Passos Alves da Silva was the glue that held the Vandals together during that stretch.
Brans came in and knocked down three three-pointers and finished with 11 points and Passos Alves da Silva went on a 6-2 run and finished the game with 8 points to extend the Vandals’ lead; they took a 35-25 lead into halftime.
The Vandals outscored the Grizzlies 35-32 in the second half, and pulled away to get their fifth straight win and moved their record to 13-4 (5-1).
Four of the Vandals’ five starters were in double figures. Leading the way was graduate guard Olivia Nelson who continued her dominance; she finished with 15. Hassmann ended with 13, Schweizer and Aadland both ended with 10 points to account for 48 of the Vandals’ 70 points.
The Vandals’ motto all season long has been to stay in the moment. Hassmann and the rest of the Vandals stayed in the moment, even during a 14-0 run in which they played with the same mentality.
“I didn’t even know that we were up 14 to zero,” Hassmann said. “We all just like to stay in the moment and get hot. We don’t get too high, and we don’t get too low. I feel like we stay composed. That helps us, and I’m super confident for the rest of the conference.”
The Vandals will travel to the mountains for their next game against a last-place Northern Colorado. This game will be extremely important to the Vandals’ season.
The Vandals will face 8-9 (1-5) Northern Colorado on Thursday, Jan. 23.
Jayden Barfuss can be reached at [email protected].