MOSCOW, Idaho - The highest-scoring duo in the nation struck again as Emily Faurholt and Leilani Mitchell combined for 43 points and the University of Idaho women's basketball team (6-8, 2-1) outlasted a Nevada (3-11, 0-3) comeback bid to earn a 69-56 win.
Faurholt led all scorers with 23 points and Mitchell was close behind with 20 points, but the points came in an all-around strong performance from a Vandal squad that shot 21-of-39 (.538) from the floor and 7-of-11 (.636) from beyond the 3-point line in the game.
"I am very impressed with our players," Idaho head coach Mike Divilbiss said. "Every player on our team was aggressive offensively and was looking to score. Our system is really designed for that type of play and when we do that we are very good. Our game goes to a whole other level. The key is always our defense, however, and when we are really aggressive on the defensive end it carries over to the offense."
Idaho built a 45-25 halftime lead with 12-of-19 (.632) shooting in the first half. The Vandals connected on 5-of-6 (.833) 3-point attempts and were 16-of-17 (.941) from the free throw line as every Vandal player scored before halftime. Idaho held Nevada to just 11-of-32 (.344) shooting from the floor, 0-of-4 from the 3-point arc, and 3-of-6 shooting from the free throw line in the half.
Nevada began the second half with two straight baskets, but Idaho quickly built its lead back to 24 points with the score 57-33 with 14:57 remaining. The teams exchanged free throws and Idaho led 58-34 with 12:04 remaining when Nevada began to put together a comeback bid. The Wolf Pack strung together a 22-7 run over the next 10 minutes and cut Idaho's lead to nine points at 65-56 with 1:55 remaining. The Vandals committed 10 turnovers over that stretch, but forced Nevada to turn the ball over twice in the final 1:30 to hold on to and stretch the lead to the 69-56 final score.
"We got a little complacent in the second half,??ť Divilbiss said. "We haven't been in that situation very often and we are learning how to play with a lead. We have been in a lot of wars this season. We need to be consistent for 40 minutes and play our game no matter what the score and we are still not where we need to be."
Faurholt shot 9-of-13 from the floor in the game, including 3-of-4 from beyond the 3-point arc. Mitchell shot 5-of-9 from the floor and added seven assists and seven rebounds to her point total. Jessica Summers chipped in a game-high nine rebounds and scored eight points.
Faurholt and Mitchell entered the week as the nation's highest-scoring duo averaging 19.9 points and 19.2 points, respectively.
The Vandals finish the week with another home game Saturday versus Utah State. The game begins at 7 p.m. and will be played in the Cowan Spectrum.
