MOSCOW, Idaho - Nothing feels better than a win over a rival. The Idaho women's basketball achieved just that Saturday night in exciting fashion with an 84-81 overtime victory over the visiting Boise State Broncos.

Idaho (3-13 overall, 1-2 Western Athletic Conference) put together one of its best performances of the season in beating the Broncos (11-6 overall, 0-3 WAC).

 "I think we did a tremendous job of sharing the basketball and moving the ball tonight," Idaho coach Jon Newlee said. "This was just night and day from what happened in Hawai'i."

It was just that for the Vandals, who came away with their first overtime victory in the last five tries.

Junior Yinka Olorunnife, who tied her career high with 25 points, along with 10 rebounds, led the team in both categories. Junior guard Bianca Cheever scored 18 for the Vandals on 5-for-9 shooting, including 4-for-6 on 3-pointers. Cheever also added seven rebounds and three assists.

The Vandals received production from the entire cast as Rachele Kloke scored 18, Shaena Kuehu had 11, and Charlotte Otero scored 10.

The Vandals shot .456 from the field for the game, while nearly matching that percentage from 3-point range, where they were .455. In contrast, the visiting Broncos shot .400 from the field and a cold .273 from beyond the arc.

Coming into the game, the Vandals knew that this game was going to be a heated affair, as it always is between rival schools.

"It's Boise State and you've got to come in knowing it's going to be a battle," Olorunnife said.

Idaho trailed early in the game, yet the Vandals were able to fight back largely because of stellar outside shooting. Idaho hit eight of its 14 attempts from 3-point range in the first half and finished with a season-high of 10 long-range buckets.

The result of Idaho's success outside was a 43-39 halftime lead, despite allowing Boise State to shoot .593 from the field.

While the Broncos were cold from outside, post player Janie Bos nearly doubled her career high with 29 points on 12-of-20 shooting, along with 11 rebounds, but the Vandals held her without a field goal or a rebound in the extra period.

Another key to Idaho's victory was shutting down its high-scoring guards. Seniors Jessica Van Hoogen and Tasha Harris entered the game averaging 33.2 points between them on .421 shooting, but on Saturday, they hit just seven of their 26 attempts for a 26.9 percent average and scored 24 points.

The game was a seesaw battle in the second half as Idaho used a 6-0 run to break a 65-65 deadlock and take a 71-65 lead with 2:58 remaining. The Broncos would not go away, though, as poor free throw shooting by the Vandals allowed them to tie the game at 73-73 with 19 seconds remaining.

Kloke managed to get a decent look at the basket at the end of regulation, but her attempt at the buzzer rattled out and set the stage for the dramatic overtime period.

Idaho dominated the first 3:23 of the period by jumping out to 81-73 lead, primarily at the free throw line. The Vandals made just two field goals during the five-minute period, but hit nine free throws to preserve the win.

 "I thought the kids really came out hard in the overtime and attacked," said Newlee, "You can't play back on your heels in overtime."

Boise State managed to whittle the deficit to three points at 84-81, but wouldn't get any closer, as the Vandals held strong on defense in the closing seconds and allowed just a contested, NBA-range 3-pointer that fell well short as time expired.

A large part of the Idaho victory was the defense that held Bronco guard Jessica Van Hoogen to only five points for the game, almost 12 below her average.

"It's always sweet to get a win over the Broncos because of the rivalry factor, but we just needed a win period," said Newlee.

The Idaho women's basketball team got exactly what it needed and will now look to keep that momentum going with a road trip to Las Cruces, N.M. on Wednesday. The Vandals will face a 12-6 New Mexico State team on January 20 at the Pan American Center.