The University of Idaho women’s basketball opened up their 2020-21 season with back-to-back victories over Big Sky rivals Sacramento State 97-73 and 81-70. Senior post Natalie Klinker led the way for the Vandals in Friday’s game recording a double-double with 15 points and 13 rebounds.
“I love the way our team came out and competed tonight,” Jon Newlee, UI women’s basketball head coach, said. “I thought we played hard. That’s the one thing we were really stressing no matter how it went tonight, just play hard. We have to get out to shooters better and our effort out on the glass was good tonight. We have to do a better job of keeping them off the glass.”
Friday
The Vandals opened up the game on a 7-0 run before the Hornets quickly pushed back and retook the lead 11-8. The Vandals would go on a 16-7 run to finish out the first period as they led 28-18.
Throughout the second period, the Vandals and Hornets traded scores until the Vandals started to gain an edge and a bigger lead towards halftime. Idaho led Sacramento State 47-35 going into halftime.
Idaho began to pull away in the third period as their lead was extended to 20, leading the Hornets 76-56. The Vandals reached their highest lead of the game after freshman guard Sydney Gandy scored and gave the Vandals a 32-point lead as they led 95-63 with less than four minutes left to play.
“I thought our bench came out and played extremely well tonight,” Newlee said. “I’m really happy with the two freshmen. You never know how the first college game will go for the freshmen, but I’m really confident in these two. They bring a lot of offensive and defensive ability to us.”
Gandy and freshman guard Paris Atchley each finished the game with 14 points in their Vandal debuts as six Vandals scored in double-figures tonight. The Vandals had a field goal percentage of 43.7, a three-point percentage of 34.6 and held the Hornets to 36% from the field and 33.3% from the three-point line.
“I’m really proud of my team tonight,” Klinker said. “I feel like we all came with a lot of effort and energy. There was a lot of anticipation going into this game, and everybody didn’t want to get their hopes up especially after what happened last season. Everybody was excited, and I think we played with a lot of heart.”
Sacramento State’s junior guard Emily Enochs led the game with 18 points as she shot 60% from the field as she also recorded four rebounds and two assists. The Hornets struggled to keep control of possessions as they recorded 13 turnovers to Idaho’s 10.
Saturday
The Vandals had five players in double figures in their second matchup with Sacramento State. Klinker recorded 19 rebounds to tie Alyssa Charleston and Karen Poncina for ninth most all-time in a single game, and broke the Memorial Gym record.
The Vandals went on multiple runs throughout the first half increasing their lead as their field goal shooting steadily increased. The Vandals led the Hornets 40-20 at the half.
In the second half, the Vandals kept increasing their lead as sophomore post Beyonce Bea and graduate transfer guard Gabi Harrington helped shoulder the scoring load. Bea and Harrington would finish with a combined 33 points.
Junior guard Gina Marxen added 12 points along with a team-high of eight assists. The Vandals outrebounded Sacramento once again 59-37 as they controlled the glass, not trailing in this category during any point of the game.
The Vandals travel to Austin, Texas to face-off against the University of Texas Longhorns on Wednesday at 11 a.m. PT. The game can be watched on Longhorn Network and ESPN+.
Armin Mesinovic can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @arminmesinovic.