The Vandals took on 8-6 (1-3) Eastern Washington over the weekend and they were desperate for a win. However, after a sluggish third and fourth quarter, the Vandals once close game ended in a tough 74-59 loss.
The Vandals and Eagles started the game by trading baskets. Idaho edged Eastern at the end of the first quarter, carrying a 15-14 lead into the second. Senior forward Beyonce Bea led the Vandals with six points in the first quarter, but the Vandals shot the ball poorly. They went 6/17 from the field and a disappointing 1/6 from 3.
The second quarter was more scoring from both sides, but it was really the Sydney Gandy show. The junior guard was on fire as she went 3/3 from three-point range and drew a foul on a three-point attempt. She calmly stepped up and nailed all three of them to give her 12 of Idaho’s 22 points in the quarter. Bea added five points, and behind Gandy’s hot hand, the Vandals were able to go into halftime with a 37-35 lead over the Eagles.
After a strong first half, the wheels fell off for the Vandals. They were physically dominated and were just outclassed in the third and fourth quarter. Eastern outscored Idaho 20-11 in the third, pushing the Eagles lead to 55-48 going into the fourth quarter. The quarter ended with a clutch three-point buzzer beater from sophomore point guard Andie Zylak to push the lead to seven. Bea led the Vandals with five points in quarter while Gandy and freshman guard Rosa Smith each added three for the Vandals.
The fourth quarter was just like the third. The Vandals tried to get in it, but they were unable to put any consistent offense together. Eastern dominated the fourth quarter and put the Vandals away, wrapping up a 74-59 victory. This was their ninth victory and second conference win of the season.
With the loss, the Vandals dropped to 6-10 overall and 2-3 in conference play. The Vandals struggled in the second half with scoring, and they had a problem rebounding all night. They were outrebounded 51-29 as Eastern had 16 offensive rebounds to the Vandals three.
Head coach Jon Newlee was impressed with the first half, but was displeased with the team’s physicality in the second half.
“I thought we did a great job in the first half, but the game changed in the second half,” Newlee said. “The physically ramped up and we backed down. We’ve got to get tougher physically.”
The game was not the result the team wanted, but it was a crucial game for Gandy. She got back on track after not scoring in her last two games, racking up 21 points and a career high six three pointers. Gandy was disappointed with the result but was glad she was able to put points on the board this game.
“After the past two games of not scoring anything, I think it’s pretty good that I got on the board this time,” Gandy said.
Gandy also sees how important she is to the Vandals success and wants to help her team however she can.
“I think I’m a pretty big part of the team,” she said. “I want to help the team win any way I can, and shooting is one of those things, so I have to be prepared.”
Some other Vandals played well. Bea added 20 points and eight rebounds while Smith added 11 points. Eastern spread the scoring a lot more as sophomore forward Jaydia Martin led the Eagles with 16 points and eight rebounds. Redshirt junior forward Milly Knowles dominated the Vandals inside scoring 14 points and grabbing eight rebounds. Graduate guard Jamie Loera had 12 points but an amazing 13 rebounds for the Eagles.
The Vandals head back on the road today to face the surging 11-7 Montana State Bobcats at 6:00 pm.
Jayden Barfuss can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @JaydenBarfuss10