MORAGA, Calif. - A scoring drought that lasted over three and a half minutes late in the second half allowed Saint Mary's College to go on a 17-0 run, turning a back-and-forth five-point game into a 77-55 lead over the Idaho women's basketball team, as the Gaels closed out an 85-71 victory over the Vandals.
Idaho (6-5) trailed by nine at 58-49 with less than 12 minutes to play, but cut the lead to five on two occasions, and looked to be gaining momentum. But after Derisa Taleni converted a layup with 7:15 to play that made the score 60-55, the Gaels (7-7) went on their decisive run, which began and ended with 3-pointers from SMC's Kate Gaze, and also featured six made free throws.
The Vandals got off to an early 4-0 with back-to-back layups from senior Yinka Olurnnife, but an 8-0 Gael run made it 8-4 SMC early in the contest. The high-scoring first half featured four ties, three lead changes, 78 total points, and a combined 13 made 3-pointers, and ended in a 39-39 tie. Idaho hit 7-of-14 3's in the first half, and shot 42.9 percent (15-of-35) from the field. But SMC shot even better, hitting 53.3 percent (16-of-30) of its first half shots, including 6-of-9 3-pointers.
Ganeaya Rogers hit a 3-pointer to give Idaho a 42-39 lead to start the second half, but Saint Mary's went on a quick 7-0 run to take a 46-42 lead it would never give back.
The Vandals shot only 30 percent from the field in the second half (12-for-40) and shot 4-for-17 (.235) from long range, finishing the game shooting 36.0 percent. Idaho connected on all six of its free throw attempts. The Gaels shot 30-for-57 (52.6 percent) from the field for the game.
Olorunnife led the Vandals with 20 points on 7-for-15 shooting including 3-of-5 from downtown, and chipped in with six rebounds, including four on the offensive end. Rachele Kloke hit 8-of-18 shots in the game and 3-of-6 3-pointers to finish with 19 points for the Vandals. Derisa Taleni had 13 points, five assists and four rebounds for Idaho, while freshman Alyssa Charlston had nine points, eight rebounds and three blocks in her second career start.
Jessica Graham saw action for the second time this season for Idaho after recovering from a knee injury, and finished with two points and four rebounds, all offensive, in eight minutes of play. Rogers finished the game with five points and two rebounds for Idaho, and Keri Arendse had three points and three assists in 25 minutes off the bench.
Gaze led the all scorers with 24 points for the Gaels, while Jasmine Smith chipped in with 20 and Louella Tomlinson had 15 for SMC.
The Vandals committed only 11 turnovers in the game, and had 16 assists on their 27 made baskets, but Saint Mary's dominated the glass with a 47-32 rebounding advantage.
Idaho coach Jon Newlee was ejected from the game after being hit with two technical fouls with 5:39 to play.
Idaho continues is five-game road trip when it visits its third consecutive West Coast Conference opponent on Dec. 30 at Portland. The Vandals will open up Western Athletic Conference play on Jan. 6 at Nevada before returning home to take on Fresno State on Jan. 10 in the Cowan Spectrum.
