Deep in the Rocky Mountains with around 2,000 elementary school kids creating a deafening home-court advantage for the Northern Colorado Bears, all the pressure was on the (16-5, 7-1) Idaho Vandals women’s basketball team. With the Vandals clinging to a three-point lead in their 62-55 victory over the Bears (15-6, 6-3), they turned to their best players who delivered in the biggest moments.
Junior guard Hope Hassmann dribbled the ball near midcourt as seconds ticked down on the shot clock. She progressed towards the basket, needing a play. Hassmann raced around the corner, sliced through Bear defenders, put up a contested layup, the ball falling through the net and silencing the raucous crowd.
Hassmann and redshirt senior forward Lorena Barbosa led the Vandals with 15 points each. Hassmann added three rebounds and three assists, while Barbosa grabbed four rebounds to help the Vandals secure the tough road victory.
In a season where the Vandals’ offense has grabbed the headlines, in this top seeded matchup their defense stole the show in this top seeded matchup and proved key down the stretch.
“I’m incredibly proud of our team today,” head coach Arthur Moreira said in Idaho Athletics press release. “They executed our game plan to perfection and made big stops and huge shots down the stretch. We continue to find ways to win when teams take away things we are good at that’s what championship teams do!”
The Vandals applied full-court pressure for most of the game, trapping and forcing the Bears into lateral passes. The excellent team defense led to two shot clock violations and a five-second violation in the fourth quarter. The Vandals outscored the Bears 20-13 in the final frame to get the hard-fought road victory.
From the opening tip, the game was tight, and after a hard-fought first quarter, the teams went to the break tied at 18 after a last-second three-pointer by senior guard Kyra Gardner to tie the game for Idaho.
Idaho used that momentum and powered through to a 9-0 run to start the second quarter, capped by a transition three by sophomore guard Ella Uriarte. The Bears clawed their way back in the game using free throws and timely buckets to get the halftime lead down to 35-31.
On the back of a high-scoring half, both teams made adjustments on the defensive end, leading to a low-scoring third quarter with neither team able to find their rhythm. After the third quarter, the teams were once again tied, this time at 42.
With the crowd behind the Bears and the Vandals’ momentum slipping away, they needed to find a way to steer it back in their favor.
Early in the fourth, the Vandals went on the aggressive and put the Bears’ defense under pressure. Sophomore guard Ana Pinheiro dribbled the ball the length of the court, put the ball behind her back, reversed direction and fired a cross-court pass to Uriarte, who drilled the three-pointer.
Uriarte finished the game with nine points, connecting on all three of her three-pointers. She also grabbed four rebounds and showed her elite defending ability throughout the game.
Just over five minutes left in the game, after a well-worked inbounds play, Uriarte found sophomore Ana Beatriz Passos Alves da Silva, who knocked down the three-pointer, extending their lead.
The Vandals’ defense continued to make each possession difficult for the Bears, forcing their second shot clock violation of the quarter and making enough stops to grind out the remaining time and get their fifth victory in a row.
Idaho is a team that has struggled to win the tough games on the road in the past. However, in these 40 minutes, they proved they are a team with all the right pieces and the mentality to compete for a Big Sky championship.
All season, Idaho’s offense has been top caliber, averaging 79.9 points per game and leading the Big Sky Conference. Along with their incredible rebounding, grabbing 47 rebounds per game, their attractive and fun style of play has made them an elite force on the offensive end. But their defense has been inconsistent, giving up 68.2 points per game.
Against Northern Colorado, a top team in the conference, the Vandals showed what they can be when both sides of the ball click. That balance will be crucial as conference play intensifies and tournament seeding comes into focus.
The Vandals will now return home to Idaho Central Credit Union Arena and face (7-14, 3-5) Northern Arizona on Saturday, Jan. 31, at 2 p.m.