Idaho women’s basketball finished even on the weekend starting with a dominant win against Eastern Washington following with a loss to Northern Colorado.
Idaho vs. Northern Colorado
Despite the historic night for Idaho senior guard Mikayla Ferenz, the Vandals dropped their first conference game of the season.
The Vandals lost to Northern Colorado Saturday afternoon 86-72 in a rematch of last season’s Big Sky championship.
“We won’t make excuses, we got beat by a team that played better than we did,” Idaho head coach Jon Newlee said in a news release. “We just have to learn from this game and move forward.”
Ferenz finished Saturday’s game with 28 points, shooting 52.2 percent from the field. Ferenz is now just the second Idaho women’s basketball player to surpass 2,000 career points.
The Vandals were able to maintain a lead throughout the first three quarters before Northern Colorado caught fire in the fourth.
The bears went on a 19-0 run in the final quarter to give them a 14-point lead with 1:07 left to play.
The Idaho splash sister duo of Ferenz and senior guard Taylor Pierce combined for 48 Vandal points. Despite the shooting success, Northern Colorado proved to be too much for Idaho towards the end of the game.
“It’s been a brutal stretch with starting on the road with two games and then coming back here with games,” Newlee said. “We have to get back to the drawing board and get ready for a very good team in Montana State.”
Idaho vs. Eastern Washington
Vandal women’s basketball dominated in the Cowan Spectrum Thursday night to give Eastern Washington their first conference loss on the road.
Idaho defeated the Eagles 84-68 lead by the hot shooting of senior splash sister Taylor Pierce, who finished with 30 points.
“It’s great seeing (Pierce) start off like that,” Idaho head coach Jon Newlee said in a news release. “I love when she starts off like that because you know it’s going to be a great game for Taylor.”
Pierce’s 30 points makes it a season high, with most of her damage coming from behind the arc. Pierce was able to knock down eight three pointers throughout the game.
After a back and forth first quarter with the Vandals leading 22-17, Idaho decided to lockdown on defense for the remainder of the half.
The Vandals held Eastern Washington to eight points, allowing Idaho to pull away with a 43-25 lead at halftime. With another dominate third quarter for the Vandals, the home team managed to sustain the lead and bring home the win.
“Eastern Washington is always going to give us a big battle,” Newlee said. “It’s going to be a scrap every time we play these guys, and there is no quit in those guys.”
The Vandals will travel to Bozeman to take on Montana State Jan. 10 at 6 p.m.
Chris Deremer can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @Cderemer_VN