In the past Flagstaff, Arizona, has not been kind to the Idaho Vandals with their last win coming in the 2020-2021 season. However, the (24-5, 15-1) Vandals were not going to let the high elevation stop them and from the opening tip, they controlled the (10-19, 6-10) Northern Arizona Lumberjacks, cruising to an 85-57 victory over the Lumberjacks.
Behind a season-high 66 rebounds, four players in double figures, and outscoring the Lumberjacks in three of the four quarters, including a dominant 22-6 second quarter, the Vandals earned their 13th consecutive win, tying the second longest in program history.
“Flagstaff is not an easy place to play,” head coach Arthur Moreira said in an Idaho Athletics press release. “Our group was ready to play tonight. I thought our depth really helped us keep the high pace and the intensity on the glass, and we ended up using the elevation to our advantage. We did a great job executing the gameplan on both sides.”
The Vandals’ quest for a regular season championship got a little closer. Idaho walked out to the court and handled business. The Vandals got off to a hot start behind a strong performance from sophomore guard Ana Beatriz Passos Alves da Silva, who scored eight of her team-high 14 points in the opening quarter.
Fellow sophomore guard Ana Pinheiro closed the quarter with an exclamation point. Pinheiro received the ball on the wing and put up a jumper as the buzzer sounded. The ball soared through the air and splashed through the net to give the Vandals a 25-14 first-quarter lead.
Pinheiro, finished the game with 12 points, seven rebounds, three steals and two blocks.
As the teams came out for the second quarter, the Vandals wanted to put the game out of reach. It started on the defensive end, as Pinheiro was matched with the conference’s leading scorer, redshirt freshman Naomi White.
White got the ball, was stood up and blocked by Pinheiro, who saved it from going out of bounds and found senior guard Mary McMorris, playing her first game since Jan. 10.
McMorris then found junior guard Hope Hassmann sprinting down the court, lacing a pass to Hassmann, whose euro-step reverse layup kept the Vandals’ momentum going. Hassmann the third Vandal in double figures with 11 points, four rebounds and two assists.
From there, the Vandals’ defense took over.
Idaho’s aggressive defense forced the Lumberjacks to shoot 1-for-17, including 0-for-7 from three, scoring just six points in the quarter. With a 41-20 lead, the Vandals never stopped pushing, and Pinheiro continued to showcase her elite defensive ability.
As the Lumberjacks dribbled looking for a ball screen, Pinheiro fought through it, stripped the ball and went coast to coast for a layup. Two possessions later, the Lumberjacks ran the same action and once again Pinheiro got through, took the ball and went coast to coast to put the Vandals up 47-20 heading into halftime.
Idaho came in motivated and held an offense that averages 70.8 points per game to just 20 first-half points, shooting 7-for-36 from the field and 1-for-15 from beyond the arc.
Pinheiro was the main catalyst for another off night from White. Coming in averaging 21 points per game, White had struggled in the first matchup and did so again here. In the Jan. 31 meeting in Moscow, White scored nine points on 4-for-12 shooting.
In this game, she had just six points through three quarters until the starters were removed. She then knocked down two deep three-pointers to bolster her stat line to 12 points, finishing 3-for-16 from the field and 3-for-12 from beyond the arc.
Idaho was not satisfied and came out of the locker room with an 11-0 run that took away any fight the Lumberjacks had left. Sophomore guard Ella Uriarte, who sat much of the first half with two fouls, knocked down two three-pointers to finish with 11 points, connecting on three of her six three-point attempts.
Looking to add more, Passos Alves da Silva launched a corner three that missed, but redshirt senior Debora dos Santos grabbed the rebound, adding to her eight boards on the night, and converted the layup to give the Vandals a 58-20 lead.
The Vandals dominated all game on the glass securing the most rebounds in a game since 2021. senior Kyra Gardner, led the team in rebounds finishing with five points and 11 rebounds along with four assists in helping the Vandals run away from the Lumberjacks.
Idaho then began to rotate players. Senior Sarah Brans made the most of her minutes, scoring seven points and securing eight rebounds. The Vandals led by as many as 39 points and dribbled out the clock to secure the victory, their first in Flagstaff since Jan. 2, 2021.
The Vandals now play for a trophy and a chance to clinch the no. 1 seed in the Big Sky tournament. Idaho will welcome the (21-8, 12-4) Northern Colorado Bears to ICCU Arena on Saturday, Feb. 28, at 3:30 p.m. in their final home game of the season.
“It’s always good to be playing at home, it’s a really good atmosphere,” dos Santos said. “We have been having the same goal from the beginning. We have a really good team, and I always thought that we could do a really good year this year. Now we just need to keep focused on the job.”