In front of a rowdy crowd and a passionate band, the Vandals roll to move into first place in the Big Sky.
Idaho came into Thursday’s game after coming off a bit of an odd weekend and were looking to get back to playing their own brand of basketball against Northern Arizona.
The Lumberjacks came in winning three out of their last four, including pulling off an upset in Pocatello against Idaho State.
The first quarter started off with intensity, with both squads coming out with strong defense and not allowing any easy shots off.
This didn’t stop senior guard Mikayla Ferenz from putting up 14 points in the first quarter, keeping the Vandals up 24-18 at the end of the first.
The second quarter was were Idaho began to take hold of the game, with senior guard Taylor Pierce doing what she does best, knocking down threes. She had five makes from deep including a stretch where she made three straight along with a three from freshman guard Gina Marxen for a 12-0 run, giving the Vandals a 20-point lead.
As halftime was nearing, a loose ball was tipped into the backcourt where Pierce was able to recover it, walk up the court and launched a deep three that gave Idaho a 19-point lead going into half time, all the momentum on its side.
The second half was more of the same: Ferenz continuing to drop points, Piercer dropping a three and Idaho getting six other players on the stat sheet for points.
Ferenz ended the night with 39 points, just two points off from her career high and is now only 23 points away from becoming the all-time leading scorer in Big Sky conference basketball, men’s or women’s.
The game was ultimately determined by the turnover battle and Idaho’s ability to play great defense on the inside.
Northern Arizona really attacked the inside, feeding its post down low and working with a lot of pick and rolls to try and free up some space, but Idaho defense had one of their most impressive performances of the season.
Keeping fouls low while seemingly able to influence nearly every shot that went up made it near impossible for the Lumberjacks to find any offensive rhythm and mount a comeback.
Turnovers where also a huge improvement from this last weekend, with the Vandals only having five in the first half and 11 on the game, a huge improvement after the loss to Northern Colorado, where Idaho had 19 turnovers on the night.
Marxen also played a huge roll on the night, able to set up her teammates and feed the hot hand as she had seven assists on the night.
With the temporary change in venue this late in the season, head coach Jon Newlee was a bit weary about how his team would perform inside Memorial Gym, but his team came through in a big way.
An incredible shooting night for the Vandals, as they shot 56 percent from the floor and 48 percent from three, as compared to the Lumberjacks who shot 46 percent from the field and 40 percent from three.
This stat becomes even more impressive when you look at Vandals shooting chart. Along with a ton of layup and three pointers, the Vandals had an impressive night of finding looks in the midrange, which is something we don’t see all that often.
With Idaho seemingly getting back to their winning formula as they moved into first place in the rankings after Portland State lost a close match up to Idaho State, the 12-3 Vandals will look to pick up another win inside Memorial Gym on Saturday.
Idaho plays Southern Utah at 2 p.m. Saturday in Memorial Gym.
Zack Kellogg can be reached at [email protected], [email protected] and on twitter @kellogg_zack.