OGDEN, Utah—The Vandal women's basketball team secured a first-round bye in next week's Big Sky Tournament with a 77-70 win at Weber State on Wednesday. Idaho can finish no worse than fourth in the conference standings with one game left to play against Idaho State on Friday.
Idaho (21-8, 13-4 BSC) weathered Weber State's fourth-quarter comeback attempt. The Vandals began the final quarter leading by 20, 61-41. The Wildcats hit five 3-pointers in the quarter and used a 21-7 opening run to cut the lead down to six, 68-62. WSU got within five points, 69-64, with 1:40 to play before Mikayla Ferenz raced to the basket to put the Vandals back up by seven with 1:31 remaining. Senior Ali Forde sealed the deal, putting Idaho up by 10 with 25 seconds to go.
Wednesday's win moved Idaho into a tie with Eastern Washington for second in the Big Sky standings. If both teams win on Friday Idaho will be the No. 3 seed in the tournament, due to the head-to-head tiebreaker with EWU.
“Tonight was huge,” head coach Jon Newlee noted. “We did not want to have to come down to the last game to figure out seeding. I like the way we came out tonight. We came out really focused, knowing what we had to do down here. I thought we played really well for three-and-a-half quarters.”
Idaho put the pressure on Weber State at the start of the second quarter. Senior Renae Mokrzycki came off the bench and scored eight consecutive points, helping Idaho to a 26-12 lead in the first two minutes of the period. The Aussie post shot 4-of-5 from the field, scoring a team-high 10 points in the frame. Freshman Taylor Pierce hit back-to-back three's in the final minutes of the half to put Idaho ahead, 41-25.
Weber State (18-10, 10-7 BSC) fought back at the start of the third, cutting the lead down to 10 off an Emily Drake 3. The Vandals answered back with a 9-1 run to go up by 20, 54-34, with 2:36 to play in the quarter. Geraldine McCorkell gave the Vandals their largest lead of the game, 21, off an open 3 with 1:36 on the clock.
WSU shot 44.0 percent (11-for-25) in its 29-point fourth quarter. Jaiamoni Welch-Coleman led the comeback for the Wildcats with 10 of her 14 points in the fourth. WSU forced seven Vandal turnovers in the period, totaling 10 points off the turnovers.
“They [Weber State] were throwing in unbelievable 3's,” Newlee commented. “It was just like last year [blowing a large lead late at WSU]. I am proud of the team because this is a hard place to win.”
McCorkell led Vandals in scoring with 15 points. Senior Connie Ballestero was 5-of-7 from the field with 11 points, seven rebounds and five assists. Pierce was the fourth Vandal in double figures with 10 points on the night.
Senior Christina Salvatore returned to the lineup after missing her first career game last week at EWU. She totaled six points and 11 rebounds in 32 minutes. Her 11 rebounds moved her past former teammate Stacey Barr for eighth in school history with 752 career boards.
Idaho will look to spoil Senior Night for Idaho State on Friday. Gametime is set for just after 6 p.m. PT.
For more information on Idaho Athletics, visit GoVandals.com. Fans can also follow Idaho women's basketball on Twitter, @VandalsWBB.
