Connor Hill — men’s basketball
In two critical games for Idaho to improve its seed in the Big Sky Tournament and shake up the Big Sky overall, the Vandals went 2-0 due in large part to senior guard Connor Hill. Against Portland State Thursday, Hill lit up the Cowan Spectrum with an outstanding 28 points in the Idaho win. Hill shot 81 percent from the field and made 8-of-9 3-pointers, which tied his career-high. Against Sacramento State Saturday night, Hill cooled off only shooting 3-for-10 with two 3-pointers. Nonetheless, Hill still put up 11 points and helped lead Idaho to a huge win over the Hornets, who are in second place in the Big Sky.
Ali Forde — women’s basketball
The Idaho women’s basketball team went 1-1 over the past week, taking a win in Portland against Portland State, but dropping a game to Sacramento State on the road. Sophomore forward Ali Forde played well for the Vandals over the two-game stretch starting with 13 points, five rebounds and one block against PSU. Her point total was the second-highest total on the team behind senior guard Stacey Barr. In the loss to Sacramento State, Forde was a monster on the boards. She pulled down a game-high 13 rebounds along with nine points and four blocks. Six of Forde’s rebounds came on the offensive side, too. Forde and the Vandals return to Moscow against Northern Arizona Thursday and Southern Utah Saturday.
Rita Bermudez — women’s tennis
The women’s tennis team went 1-1 last week with a win over Lewis-Clark State College Feb. 9 and a loss to Big Sky rival Sacramento State Friday. Rita Bermudez played a part in the Vandals’ success with wins in doubles and singles in both games. Bermudez went off against Stephani Buckingham of LCSC in the No. 2 singles match winning 6-2, 6-0. In doubles, the junior from Tucson, Arizona, teamed up with Lucia Badillos in the No. 2 doubles match defeating Hannah Uhlenkott and Lauren Lang of LCSC 6-3. Despite the loss to Sacramento State, Bermudez won her singles match against Anna-Maria Nau 7-5, 6-4 in the No. 2 singles match. She paired up with Badillos again, this time in the No. 3 doubles match, and defeated Hornet’s Daria Savchenko and Ana Loaiz Equivias 6-4.
Laura Griffing — swim and dive
In her last home meet as a Vandal, Laura Griffing was one of only two Idaho swimmers to win an individual event Saturday against Utah. The senior from Kodiak, Alaska, won the 50-yard breaststroke in 29.53 seconds. She beat the next competitor by only 0.07 seconds. She also finished third in the 100 breaststroke in 1:07.69. The Vandals fell to the Utes 153-88 in the meet. Now, Idaho prepares this week for the WAC Championships Monday in San Antonio. Idaho coach Mark Sowa said the team is working on getting healthy and maximizing speed this week.