MOSCOW, Idaho—The Vandal women swept the season series against Portland State with their 84-63 win on Thursday. Idaho moved up into a tie for second in the Big Sky at 11-3, following Eastern Washington's loss.
Senior Ali Forde led the charge for the Vandals. She recorded her 19th career double-double, finishing with 17 points and 11 rebounds. She passed former Vandal Alyssa Charlston for fourth on Idaho's all-time rebounding list, now with 862 on her career.
“It does feel kind of cool [to pass Charlston],” Forde said. “Alyssa is my girl. She came up to me after the game and congratulated me. That felt special.”
Idaho (19-7, 11-3 BSC) had five players finish in double figures. Freshman Taylor Pierce, as she has all season, came off the bench with the hot hand. She was 4-of-8 from long range, totaling 14 points. Renae Mokrzycki helped the Vandal bench to 49 points, scoring 14 on the night. Geraldine McCorkell and Mikayla Ferenz each posted 13 points.
The Vandals got off to a slow start to open the game, trailing the Vikings in the first six minutes. Idaho tied the game at nine with 4:15 to play in the first quarter. Portland State regained a brief lead before a Ferenz 3 put the Vandals ahead for good, 14-11.
“When Taylor [Pierce], Renae [Mokrzycki] and then Mikayla [Ferenz] came in that seemed to change things around,” head coach Jon Newlee explained. “We just picked up our energy level. I thought our energy was low to start. That can happen when you have beaten a team by 30 at their place. I thought Portland State came out playing hard and aggressive. They are down and down in numbers, but I think Lynn [Kennedy] has them playing hard.”
McCorkell hit a three to open the second half for Idaho, widening the Idaho advantage to 44-30. Forde recorded an old fashioned 3 to put Idaho up by 21 midway through the third. Portland State trimmed the lead to 19 by the end of the quarter, 64-45.
Coach Newlee got his bench involved in the fourth quarter, getting all 13 players dressed into the game. Idaho wore down the Vikings, who only had seven players on the trip.
“When we saw them [PSU] in warmups and saw they only had seven players we knew we could take advantage,” Mokrzycki noted. “We posts ran the court hard. It kind of worked. You could see it throughout the game. They seemed a little bit tired. We at least had our bench to sub through. We definitely took advantage of them only having seven players.”
Kian McNair led the Vikings with a game-high 18 points. Cici West added 10 points and eight rebounds. PSU entered the game as the top rebounding team in the conference, averaging 44.2 per game. The Vandals out-boarded the Vikings, 52-41.
Christina Salvatore finished the night with a career-high nine assists to go with her seven rebounds and four points. As a team Idaho totaled 24 helpers. The Vandals scored 14 fast-break points, the second-best total of the season.
The Vandals host Sacramento State on Saturday. The Hornets upset Eastern Washington, 94-91, in Cheney on Thursday. Idaho's five seniors will be honored as part of a pregame ceremony for Senior Day. Tip is set for 2 p.m. PT.
For more information on Idaho Athletics, visit GoVandals.com. Fans can also follow Idaho women's basketball on Twitter, @VandalsWBB.
