With five minutes left in the first half and the Vandals trailing Sacramento State by four, sophomore guard Hope Hassmann picked up her second foul, sending her to the bench and leaving the Vandals without their leading scorer for the rest of the half. Idaho responded to her absence with a 19-0 run that helped propel them to a 63-48 victory over Sacramento State, moving them to 2-1 in conference play.
“I have so much trust in my team,” Hassmann said. “We got Jen [Aadland] two great looks. Olivia [Nelson] got a great look. That’s what’s so special about our team. We don’t need one person to contribute to every game. We have so many people who can be a threat.”
The Vandals opened Big Sky play against Sacramento State in the ICCU Arena on the wrong foot. The Hornets came out firing and jumped out to an early 7-2 lead. They never let their foot off the gas pedal and cruised to a 20-13 lead at the end of the first quarter.
The Vandals struggled both offensively and defensively in the first quarter and needed to change things before it was too late.
“After the first [quarter], we talked with our coaches in the huddle and said, ‘Hey, we need to pick it up,'” graduate forward Jennifer Aadland said.
The Vandals came out of the quarter on a mission. After key defensive stops, Hassmann drove the ball down the lane and laid it up to cut the lead to 20-15. A couple of possessions later, Hassmann got off a defender, created space and knocked down a long three-pointer to bring the Vandals within two.
Hassmann’s success did not last long. With five minutes left, she picked up her second foul, and she went to the bench for the rest of the quarter with the Vandals trailing 22-18. Freshman Ana Pinheiro made three free throws to bring the Vandals within one.
On the next possession, the Vandals took the lead, as junior forward Sara Brans made a putback layup, and the Vandals led 23-22. Aadland followed that up with back-to-back three-pointers to push the lead to 29-22.
On the other end, Aadland got her 11th rebound of the first half and pushed the ball down the court. Aadland faked at the three-point line, drove to the elbow and then kicked the ball back out to Nelson.
Nelson swished the three-pointer, causing Sacramento State to call a timeout that sent electricity through a quiet ICCU Arena.
“Energy is contagious. When one shot falls and the crowd gets into it, it just keeps coming. Those nine points were big for us, so we needed some energy there,” Nelson said.
The Vandals closed the quarter with a three-pointer from freshman guard Ella Uriarte to push the Vandals lead to 37-22 heading into the locker room.
The Vandals outscored the Hornets 24-2 in the second quarter, which helped them gain control of the game.
The Hornets came out of the locker room and switched from a man-to-man defense to a zone, which threw off the Vandals. They struggled to score in the quarter. The Hornets capitalized and outscored Idaho 17-11, cutting the Vandals’ lead to 48-39.
The Vandals outscored the Hornets 15-9 in the fourth and closed out the 63-48 victory to get their second straight win and move them to 10-4 (2-1).
Hassmann led the Vandals with 16 points, including 4/10 from beyond the arc. Aadland, a double-double machine this season, got another one with 10 points and 18 rebounds which ties her career high.
Defensively, the Vandals used Nelson’s quick hands to get some huge stops for them down the stretch. She finished the game with a career-high eight steals. She also added 11 points and four assists to help secure the Vandals victory.
The Vandals will look to continue their win streak when they host the 3-8 (0-2) Portland State Vikings, a team that could cause them many issues.
“There are no easy games in the Big Sky,” Head Coach Arthur Moreira said. “Every night is a crap shoot, you have to be ready to play. [Portland State] plays a different style. They zone quite a bit most of the game. So, we have to be ready for that. It’ll be a different challenge for us that we haven’t faced yet.”
Jayden Barfuss can be reached at [email protected].