A hot shooting streak carried Idaho State to an 89-68 victory over the Idaho women’s basketball team Friday night in Pocatello.
The loss drops the Vandals (21-9 overall, 13-5 Big Sky) to the No. 3 seed in the conference postseason tournament this week.
“Hats off to Idaho State, they made their shots,” Idaho head coach Jon Newlee said. “When they were open they knocked them down.”
The Bengals (15-14 overall, 8-10 Big Sky) held the Vandals to 14 points in the first quarter, as Idaho State exploded for 25 points to take an 11-point lead.
The Vandals responded with 20 points in the second quarter, but the Bengals entered halftime with a 45-34 lead.
Idaho shot 34.2 percent from the field in the first half of play, while Idaho State converted 17-30 shots from the field.
“I have never seen them shoot like that all year and we have seen a lot of their games,” Newlee said. “They were home on Senior Night. That is what happens here.”
Senior guard Christina Salvatore scored five points in the first half for the Vandals, while senior post Ali Forde collected four rebounds.
Junior guard Brooke Blaire contributed 11 points for the Bengals in the first half.
Idaho State continued its offensive success in the second half, scoring 44 points en route to a 21-point victory over the Vandals.
Forde finished as the Vandals leading scorer with 17 points. Freshman Mikayla Ferenz contributed 14 points, while senior post Renae Mokrzycki added another 13 points.
Blaire led all scorers with 24 points for Idaho State. Senior guard Apiphany Woods added another 21 points, while redshirt sophomore forward Lindsay Brown finished with 16.
The Bengals shot 55.4 percent from the field during the game, compared to 31.3 percent for the Vandals.
The regular season finale loss dropped Idaho to third in the conference standings, as the Vandals went 4-3 in the last seven games.
Idaho finished the year with a 21-9 overall record and 13-5 record in conference play.
The team will play in the Big Sky postseason tournament Tuesday after earning a bye during the first round of play Monday. The Vandals are scheduled to face the winner of the first round matchup between No. 6 Weber State and No. 11 Portland State.
“The real prize is Reno and we are well aware of that,” Newlee said. “We will regroup and get ready to play in the tournament.”
Josh Grissom can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @GoshJrissom