PHOENIX—The Idaho Vandals opened the Grand Canyon Thanksgiving Classic with an uncharacteristic 76-74 loss to Northern Iowa on Friday. Idaho attempted just six three-point attempts, its fewest in exactly five years to the day when attempting six against Pepperdine.

The Vandals statistically outplayed UNI throughout a majority of the contest. Idaho out-shot the Panthers, 56.9 to 40.8 percent. Both teams finished with 29 total field goals, but the Panthers needed 20 more attempts to match Idaho's offensive output. Idaho out-rebounded UNI, 36-32.

"Our lack of blocking out cost us this game," head coach Jon Newlee said. "We had a two point lead and they got six points off rebounds in the last 54 seconds. Unfortunately, after playing outstanding defense for 25 seconds of a possession we relaxed at the end and they killed us by getting boards and kicking out for 3's. We need to get physically tougher down low and we have to do a better job of gang-rebounding to be successful." 

Northern Iowa (3-2) got key second-chance points late in the fourth quarter, totaling nine offensive rebounds in the final 10 minutes. Mikayla Ferenz hit a pair of free throws for Idaho to give the Vandals a 72-71 lead with 1:14 to play. UNI's Taylor Hagen got sent to the free-throw line and missed both of her attempts. A key offensive board by Hannah Schonhardt led to a game-shifting 3 by Mikaela Morgan with 29 seconds to play. A quick Taylor Pierce layin tied the game at 74 with 24 seconds on the clock. Two more offensive rebounds by UNI in the final five seconds led to Megan Maahs' game-winning putback.

Idaho (2-2), after attempting a school-record 52 3-point attempts at Washington, finished Friday just 2-for-6 from long distance. UNI, on the other hand, went 12-for-37 from 3—outscoring Idaho 36-6 from beyond the arc. They Vandals netted 52 points inside the paint outscoring UNI by 20. 

"Their strategy was to take away our 3-point shot and we made them pay for it," Newlee added. "We came out stagnant on offense in the first half. We made some adjustments at the half and did a great job executing those changes."

The Vandals had three players in double-figures. Ferenz led the way with a game-high 18 points. Wilson added 15 points, shooting 5-of-5 from the free throw line. Pierce came on late to end with 12 points. McCorkell led the team with eight rebounds to go with her eight points.

The Silver and Gold gained its largest lead of the night, 61-56, off an Agueda Trujillo layup with 6:58 to play in the fourth quarter. The Vandals held the lead up until the four minute mark when a Morgan 3 tied the game at 65.

The Vandal offense, much like the game's start, got off to a bit of a delayed start. Idaho was 2-for-8 in the open, trailing 10-4 in the first six minutes of play. UNI kept Idaho at a distance with an 8-0 run to go up 13-4 with 2:30 left in the quarter. The Vandals offense heated up in the final moments of the first. Baskets by Geraldine McCorkell , Karlee Wilson and Ferenz helped Idaho slim the lead to 15-11. A 3 ball from Trujillo tied the score at 15 to end the quarter.

Quick hits from McCorkell and Cherita Daugherty gave Idaho a 15-2 run over a span of 14:23, to push Idaho to a 19-15 lead at the start of the second. The Panthers regained a brief 23-21 lead, before Daugherty tied the game up at 23 with 7:11 to go. Both teams went scoreless for close to two minutes, until a pair of Wilson free throws put Idaho back on top 25-23. Ferenz added two more free throws for Idaho to build a 27-23 lead with 3:05 left in the half. UNI closed the final two minutes with an 11-2 run, taking a 34-29 halftime-lead.

Idaho overcame a seven-point third quarter deficit to take a four-point lead into the fourth quarter. Idaho closed the quarter's final 3:54 on a 13-2 run, ending the period with back-to-back baskets from Taylor Pierce and McCorkell.

Weekly led the Panthers with 15 points and six assists. Schonhardt hit four 3's to finish with 12 points.

"We went down to the wire with a team that is ranked No. 18 in the mid-major polls," Newlee continued. "They are a very tough team that was picked to win a very tough conference. They are well coached and played their tails off. This game will do nothing but help us get ready for Big Sky action."

The Vandals will be back at the GCU Arena on Saturday when they take on Grand Canyon. The game is slated for a 2 p.m. PT start.