The time began to tick down at Idaho Central Credit Union Arena while a milestone was in reach. Redshirt senior Debora dos Santos has battled her entire college career through injuries and the hardships of college basketball. In Idaho’s 95-76 victory over Weber State, she was one basket away from breaking 1,000 points.
Sophomore guard Ana Beatriz Passos Alves da Silva got the rebound off a Weber State miss and raced up the floor. She found senior guard Kyra Gardner, who laced a pass to dos Santos. She took the pass and scooped in the layup to give her 1,000 points on her career and 12 points and 12 rebounds in the game for her second straight double-double.
The Vandals put on a show offensively, scoring the most points they have all season. Four Vandals finished in double figures, led by Gardner, who was the engine behind the offense with 27 points, eight rebounds and four assists.
From the tipoff, the Vandals were on another level compared to Weber State. The offense hummed along, and their fast-paced and free-flowing style led to an explosive first quarter.
With five seconds left in the quarter, Gardner weaved up the court and used a dos Santos screen to create space. For the second straight game, she drained a buzzer-beating three-pointer to give the Vandals a 33-19 first-quarter lead.
The Vandals picked up where they left off on offense and kept the Wildcats on their heels. However, behind foul shooting and shot making, the Wildcats found a rhythm and started to chip away at Idaho’s lead. A pair of Gardner free throws gave the Vandals a 56-42 halftime lead.
Idaho started the third quarter off how they left the second and started to build the lead back up. Hassmann, who battled foul trouble early and went scoreless in the first half, got on the board early in the third. She dribbled with her left, spun, got the Weber defender in the air and knocked down the jumper to put Idaho back up by 18.
The Wildcats did not go away and cut the lead to nine points before dos Santos made back-to-back layups to push the lead to 79-62 entering the fourth.
Dos Santos, a native of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, has been one of the most efficient players for the Vandals after a four-year career at the University of San Francisco, where she battled an ACL injury among others that hampered her career at USF.
Dos Santos reflected on her journey to get to 1,000 points.
“I thank God all the time for everything I’m being able to do,” dos Santos said. “I feel happy. My whole college career has been sometimes kind of frustrating because of injuries, so me being able to finally get this 1,000-mark, I’m happy about that.”
Head coach Arthur Moreira, who coached dos Santos at USF, knew what he was getting when she came to Idaho out of the portal and is thrilled for her accomplishment.
“I’m really excited for her. She’s such a special kid,” Moreira said. “She always has a smile on her face. She’s the ultimate teammate. She’s so talented, but she’d rather never score a point if we’re going to win every game this season. When we got her, we knew what we were getting. I feel like you guys still haven’t seen what she’s capable of doing. She’s still going to be even better. She has no business being in the Big Sky. She can play anywhere. I’m thankful she decided that our relationship was that important that she decided to take a chance on us.”
With the rest of the Vandals struggling to find the basket, Hassmann, with three points in the game, stepped up in a big way. In the final frame she scored 11 points and ended the game with 14 points and three rebounds, capped by an and-one and a dagger three-pointer.
Redshirt senior forward Lorena Barbosa got an entry pass into the paint and spotted Hassmann on the wing and swung the ball across the lane. Hassmann didn’t hesitate and nailed the three-pointer to give the Vandals a 93-74 lead.
Sophomore guard Ana Pinheiro, the other Vandal in double figures, finished with 16 points, four rebounds and four assists as Idaho cruised to their second straight victory, making their record at ICCU Arena 7-1.
The (13-5, 4-1) Vandals have fought through adversity this entire season. After a 33-point loss to Montana State, they responded with back-to-back wins to build momentum heading into their three-game road trip ahead.
“It’s good to win, but it’s never something to be just thinking about, ‘Oh, we won, so we’re good for next one,'” dos Santos said. “It looks like all teams in the conference; they are going to be tough games. We just need to focus for the next one, still have the same tough mindset. As long as we keep doing that for the rest of the year, I feel like we should be good.”
The Vandals will travel to California to take on (9-9, 3-2) Sacramento State on Thursday, Jan. 22, at 6:30 p.m.