A loud, outspoken crowd made the matchup between Idaho and Montana State feel more like a playoff battle than a regular-season game.
Every call the referees made was met with a chorus of boos and grumbles from the Idaho student section.
Despite an early lead, the Vandals (13-6 overall, 5-2 Big Sky) lost control of the matchup in the third period, as the team fell 62-59 to Montana State (14-5 overall, 7-1 Big Sky).
“The 11 turnovers in the third quarter were killer,” Idaho coach Jon Newlee said. “They are an extremely physical basketball team. We’ve got to get tougher.”
Sophomore post Geraldine McCorkell led Idaho for the second consecutive game with 15 points.
Senior guard Christina Salvatore added her third double-double of the season with 11 points and 10 boards. Salvatore led the Vandals in assists with four.
Montana State took the lead early in the first quarter with five points from Jasmine Hommes.
Hommes finished as the Bobcats leading scorer with 16 points.
Senior post Ali Forde added the first points for Idaho with two free throws early in the game.
Montana State stayed ahead of the Vandals, as Delany Junkermier added five points for the Bobcats.
Idaho began to apply some defensive pressure late in the first quarter, as Montana State missed four consecutive shots.
A layup from senior post Renae Mokrzycki helped the Vandals tie the score 16-16.
Montana State added two more layups late in the quarter to pull ahead of Idaho 20-17.
The Bobcats made seven points early in the second quarter to maintain the lead. Back-to-back 3-pointers from Salvatore and freshman guard Mikayla Ferenz brought Idaho within one point.
A free throw late in the quarter from Mokrzycki knotted the score at 29-29.
Salvatore added three points to help the Vandals enter halftime with a 36-32 lead.
McCorkell opened the third period with a 3-pointer to extend Idaho’s lead to seven.
The Bobcats received a helping hand from Alexa Dawkins, who scored six points to rally Montana State and tie the game at 43-43.
A foul on Renae Mokryzycki sent Montana States’s Lindsay Stockton to the line, where she broke the tie and gave Montana State the lead.
The Vandals committed 11 turnovers in the third quarter, which resulted in 12 points for Montana State.
The Vandals were held to nine points in the quarter, and the Bobcats entered the fourth quarter with a 48-45 lead.
After a 4-0 Bobcat run, Mokrzycki made a layup to cut the score to 52-47.
A technical foul on Newlee late in the fourth quarter gave Montana two pivotal free throws in the final minutes, which allowed Montana State to grasp a 57-54 lead.
“I didn’t say anything,” Newlee said. “That’s the crazy part. That’s a tough time to make that call.”
The Vandals responded with a basket from Ballestero and a 3-pointer from freshman guard Taylor Pierce to give the Vandals a 59-57 lead.
Montana State’s Peyton Ferris tied the score 59-59 with two free throws with 1:37 left in the matchup. After Idaho could not convert on several scoring opportunities, the Bobcats gained a 61-59 lead with 28.5 seconds left.
Idaho was forced to foul and Montana State’s Lindsay Stockton went to the free throw line, where she only converted on one of the two shots.
After regaining possession, Salvatore threw the ball down the court to Mokrzycki, but the ball went out of bounds.
“I shouldn’t have thrown it,” Salvatore said. “We encourage our posts to run and our guards to kick it up and hit them while they’re running. There’s lots of times when they’re open. It was a bad pass by me.”
The Vandals were able to regain possession, and Pierce attempted a long range 3-pointer to tie the game as the buzzer sounded, but the ball clanked off the rim.
The 62-59 loss dropped the Vandals conference record to 5-2.
“We showed a lot of heart to come back,” McCorkell said. “Especially after that third quarter. We just couldn’t hold onto it.”
The Vandals finished the game with a shooting percentage of 85.7 from the free throw line, 31.9 percent from inside the paint and 28.6 percent outside the key.
Despite the loss, Idaho picked up more boards than Montana State, outrebounding the Bobcats 48 to 39.
Idaho will face Sacramento State Thursday at 7 p.m. in Sacramento, California.
Tess Fox can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @tesstakesphotos