In the Mile High City, the Idaho Vandals women’s basketball team battled the University of Denver. Up nine at halftime, Idaho was looking to hang on for a huge Big Sky-Summit League challenge victory.
Idaho came out of the locker room and showed their offensive prowess, going on an 11-0 run capped off by a three-pointer from senior guard Kyra Gardner, who finished the game with 16 points and a career-high 12 rebounds.
Behind a balanced Vandals attack that scored 44 points in the paint and knocked down 10 three-pointers, with four players scoring in double figures, Idaho rolled to an 84-54 victory over Denver and moved to 8-2, their best start to a season since 2003-2004
“Great bounce-back win. I was not happy with our effort and lack of toughness in Wednesday’s game,” head coach Arthur Moreira said in an Idaho Athletics press release. “I thought the team responded well today and played hard for the entirety of the game. We need to continue to get better as a team, and I think we did that today.”
Coming off a 92-89 loss to Oral Roberts, the Vandals needed to respond, and a trip to the Rocky Mountains was just what they needed.
Idaho came out slow but began to probe the Pioneers’ defense. Gardner and sophomore guard Ella Uriarte scored five points apiece to get Idaho’s offense into a rhythm.
Gardner took over from there, finishing the first half with 11 points, nine rebounds, two assists and two steals to lead the Vandals to a 37-28 halftime lead.
Idaho’s balance began to hurt the Pioneers. After a slow-paced first half where Denver played at their tempo, Idaho began to speed them up and thrive on the offensive end.
A combination of inside-outside success started to seep through, and three minutes into the second half, after Gardner knocked down one of the Vandals 10 three-pointers, the Vandals stretched their lead to 48-28.
Denver tried to battle back, but Idaho outscored them 25-15 in the quarter, and what was once a single-digit lead had blossomed into a 62-43 advantage with ten minutes left to play.
In the previous game against Oral Roberts, Idaho got outscored, outpaced and lost a ten-point lead. The Vandals came out determined not to let that happen again and went on an 8-2 run to open the quarter.
As the quarter wound down, Idaho stepped up on both sides of the ball, controlling the tempo of the game, dominating on the glass and forcing the Pioneers into low-percentage shots.
Junior guard Hope Hassmann, who had a quiet game up to that point, came alive and buried a three-pointer. On the next possession, she got to the rim for a layup, a quick 5-0 run that continued the Vandals’ dominance.
Idaho outscored the Pioneers 47-26 in the second half and was excellent all over the floor, winning the rebounding battle 50-27.
Gardner got the Vandals off to a hot start and was the leading scorer. Hassmann, Uriarte, redshirt senior forward Lorena Barbosa and senior Mary McMorris all scored in double figures to help Idaho secure the victory.
Idaho will be back on the road on Wednesday, Dec. 11, when they travel to California to take on the University of California, Berkeley at 7 p.m.