TOLEDO, Ohio—An early start on Sunday morning did not mean a slow start for the Idaho women's basketball team. The Vandals avoided a third consecutive loss on Sunday with a dominating 78-62 win over Southeast Missouri to close out the Glass City Classic.
Idaho (5-5) scored the game's first seven points and held a 14 point lead midway through the first half. Ali Forde scored nine points in the first 10 minutes for the Vandals, asserting her dominance inside the paint. Forde finished with her first double-double of the season, totaling 17 points and 10 boards.
“I felt like we really had an advantage inside,” head coach Jon Newlee said. “There are not many teams we will have a size advantage on, but we got that this morning. The gameplan from the start was to jam it down their throat and get the ball to Ali and see what happens. She really responded. She was awesome. They could not stop her in those first five minutes and really all day long.”
Three Vandals scored over 15 points for the first time this season and the first time since closing the regular season against UMKC on Mar. 8 last season. Freshman Geraldine McCorkell led the team with a season-high 19 points in 19 minutes off the bench. Fellow Aussie Stacey Barr matched McCorkell with 17 points, after hitting just one field goal in the first half. The duo combined for 14 rebounds.
The Vandals built a 17-point first-half lead off a Forde layup with 5:28 remaining in the first half. Southeast Missouri would try to chip away but Idaho would finish the half with a 13-point lead at 35-22. The Silver and Gold mounted a 10-5 run in the first 4:07 of the second half to extend the lead to 18 points.
Southeast Missouri (5-6), fueled by Allyson Bradshaw in the second half, strung together a 10-2 run to cut the Vandal lead to 52-42 with just over 11 minutes to play. Bradshaw scored all but two points over the run on her way to a 21-point half.
The Redhawks stayed within striking range of the Vandals until an 11-2 run by the Vandals extend the lead from 13 to 20 points at 73-53 with 2:28 to play. Barr put the final nails in the coffin with the final five points in the 2:45 span.
Following the final buzzer, Barr was named to the Glass City Classic All-Tournament Team. The senior averaged 22.5 points and 8.0 rebounds on the weekend.
Nine Vandals contributed to Idaho's 78 points. Christina Salvatore closed the game with eight points and 10 rebounds. Connie Ballestero and Brooke Reilly each totaled five points. Ballestero dished out a season-high eight assists. Redshirt freshman Nejra Solo scored her first career basket in the win.
“We are going to need that [the balanced scoring],” Newlee explained. “I loved the 24 assists. That tells you we are moving the ball and people are shooting from their comfort zones. I thought Connie in particular did a great job distributing the ball today. I thought she pushed the ball harder today than she has in the past few games and that is what we need her to do.”
The Vandals have six days before their next game. They will be back in Cowan Spectrum on Dec. 20 to take on Lewis-Clark State College to conclude the non-conference schedule.
Notes:
Sunday's win marked win No. 98 for Coach Newlee at Idaho, he is now second in program history…The Vandals have hit a three-point field goal in 209 consecutive games...McCorkell was 8-8 from the FT line today, she has hit her last 10 attempts…Salvatore has hit a three-pointer in each of her last 23 games…Barr extended her school-record to now 221 career three-point field goals…The Vandals are now 2-0 on Sunday this season.
