MOSCOW - Freshman Yinka Olorunnife picked up her first career double-double and senior Sara Dennehy hit six clutch free throws in overtime as the Idaho women's basketball team took down Utah State 70-64 on Saturday to get the team's first Western Athletic Conference win of the season.

“We've been working hard so much over these past weeks and we finally got paid,” Dennehy, who scored eight of her 13 points during the overtime period, said. “That's what we're telling ourselves, so now we're going to work hard into next week.”

The Vandals (2-15, 1-4 WAC) used strong defense and smart play to hold the Aggie offense to 64 points and 32 percent shooting. The Vandals also did a much better job of limiting fouls and free throws. At the half, the Vandals had committed just five fouls and didn't send Utah State to the line once. Idaho finished the game with 13-point advantage from the charity stripe.

“One of our goals was to keep them out of the bonus in the first half,” Idaho coach Mike Divilbiss said. “We're getting more disciplined. You could tell that we were really committed to playing smart tonight.”

Another key aspect in the win was defensive rebounding. Idaho out-rebounded Utah State 52-39 and had 37 defensive rebounds. The Aggies had just seven second-chance points in the game.

Utah State's two biggest offensive threats, Danyelle Snelgro and Taylor Richards, finished the game shooting just eight-of-32 (.250) combined, while Idaho's top scorers, Olorunnife and Katie Madison, were a combined 17-of-29 (.586) from the field and 10-of-14 from the free-throw line.

“We played very well defensively, and against a very good team,” Divilbiss said. “I told them in the locker room afterward that they earned that through what they've been doing in practice. We've been getting better and better and better.

“It's a process and I think it came into fruition tonight.”

Olorunnife dropped 23 points with 10 boards, two blocks and two steals for her the best game of her young career. Madison fouled out after just 29 minutes of play, but still managed to net 18 points and dish out three assists.

With the team's top offensive threat stuck on the bench, true freshman Therese Riedel came up with a great effort in relief. She added six points for the Vandals and grabbed 12 boards and, maybe just as importantly, blocked a career-high three shots on layups late in the second half in a tie game.

Another bench player who stepped up big was Carli Bakondy, another freshman who helped maintain the pace of the offense and added two assists, two points and a steal in five minutes.

“I'm really proud of Therese. She's been patient all year?she just keeps developing and improving,” Divilbiss said. “Carli did a good job of taking care of the ball for us. She's going to do nothing but keep improving.”

The Vandals controlled the pace of the game early on and led by as many as seven points in the first half. Idaho took a 24-21 lead into the break and, unlike Thursday against Nevada, came out firing in the second. The Vandals took the lead back up to nine points with 13:24 to go on a big-time Alana Curtis three-pointer, but then the Aggies went on a 12-4 run to come within a point at 43-42 with 8:16 to go.

The Vandals answered Utah State's run with an 8-2 run of their own to extend the lead back out to six points at 50-44 with 6:28 remaining. Things got scary over the final 4:41, as Idaho turned the ball over five times and allowed the Aggies to hang around until Snelgro drove in and drew a foul with five seconds to go. Snelgro sank both of her free throws and sent the game into overtime.

After Utah State took all the momentum into the extra period, Idaho snatched it right back on one key play. The Aggies scored first to take a two-point lead, but Idaho came right back down and tied it up on two Dennehy free throws. The Vandals got a big defensive rebound on a missed layup, then Dennehy hit a big-time basket on an inbound play under the hoop, plus a foul. She gave the Vandals a three-point lead that they would not relinquish.

The Vandals took a season-high 36 free throws in the game and tied a season-high with 22 made free throws. The team's 52 rebounds are also a season high.

The goal for the Vandals now is to take the momentum from the win and keep it going into next week's road trips to San Jose State on Thursday and Hawai'i on Saturday.

“We know that if we work hard, we're going to be successful and we're just going to keep growing,” Divilbiss said. “Life in the WAC is really tough on the road, but we don't care. We're just having fun and playing hard.”