MOSCOW, Idaho—Idaho junior Taylor Pierce could not be contained as she helped lead the Vandals to a 20-point win over Cal State Fullerton on Monday. Pierce moved into third all-time on Idaho's 3-point list, while tying her own school record with nine 3's in the 80-60 victory over the Titans.

How it Happened
Idaho (3-4) scored the game's first seven points, capped off by Pierce's first three of the night. CSUF battled back to within one at 10-9. From there the Vandal defense shut down the Titans' scoring. Pierce hit her third 3 of the night, putting Idaho up 13-9 with 3:06 on the clock in the first.

The Silver and Gold did not allow Fullerton to get back on the board for the next 14:54. The Vandals closed the first with a 19-9 lead and continued to put it on in the second quarter. Pierce scored 12 points in what finished as a 22-0 run, resulting in a 32-9 lead for Idaho with 7:33 to play in the second quarter. Idaho held Fullerton to 0-for-6 from the field during the run and forced three turnovers.

Idaho led 48-23 by the end of the first half. Pierce totaled 24 points and four rebounds, playing all 20 minutes in the half. Geraldine McCorkell added 10 points in the half, shooting 5-of-9 from the field. The Vandals shot 58.1 percent (18-31) from the field in the half and hit 11 of 15 3's.

Pierce hit her ninth 3 of the night in Idaho's first possession of the third quarter. The record-tying triple put Idaho up 51-25, leaving zero chance for a Fullerton comeback. Natalie Klinker gave the Vandals a 27-point lead, 67-40, to close the third quarter.

The Vandal lead grew to 29 in the fourth quarter off a Sarah Bersang layup. Idaho emptied its bench midway through the fourth quarter. Cal State Fullerton cut its deficit down to 17 in the final two minutes. Allison Kirby hit Idaho's 15th 3 of the night to close the scoring with 54 seconds left to play.

Pierced closed 9-of-10 from 3, for 27 points. Mikayla Ferenz was not bad herself, finishing 5-of-7 from deep for 17 points. McCorkell and Bersang also hit double figures with 12 and 10, respectively. 

Keys
The hot hand of Pierce. The Carlsbad, Calif., native, tied her own school record of nine made 3's in a game. Pierce simply could not miss. She hit her first nine attempts from behind the arc. Her ninth three gave her 27 points—the entire Titan roster totaled just 25 points at the time of the basket.

Her nine three's not only tied the school record but tied the most by an individual in the NCAA this season, becoming the seventh DI player to hit the mark this season.

Quotes
Head Coach Jon Newlee
On overall performance
"I was really impressed with our defense in the first half. I thought we came out and really held them down. Our intensity was good. Our execution was really good. I thought we really took them out of the flow early, defensively. I thought that led to some great offense."

On 22-0 run
"Defensively, we were just locking down. They were one shot and done. That just led to a great offensive flow for us. We were running a lot of our sets and our execution was the best it has been all year. Of course, our shooters were hot—Taylor, Mikayla, everybody. I thought Geri did a great job early of getting to the rim and setting the tone. It was a total team effort in the first half on both ends."

On Taylor Pierce
"Everybody was pretty stoked [in the huddle]. She was making shots. I did not know how many she had made. I knew she looked like she was making every one of them. We ran some stuff for her when she was like 4-for-4. At one point my assistant Jeri [Jacobson] said she was 4-for-4 and that was good to know. She was making everything. It was like Cancun all over again when she destroyed Iowa State. That is exactly what it looked like."

Junior Taylor Pierce
On her night
"I knew I didn't miss, but I didn't know exactly how many I hit. We went to the locker room at halftime and the team was kind of joking about how many I had. I was like 'shut up, don't say anything.' Tonight felt really good. My teammates don't get enough credit for the screens that they set or the passes that they make to get me those open shots. 90 percent of the credit should go to them. It was pretty easy when you are shooting wide open."

Senior Geri McCorkell
On playing with a hot shooter like Pierce
"You just sit back and watch the show. Both Mikayla and Taylor work incredibly hard to be those kinds of shooters. A lot of that hard work is in practice and a lot of people don't get to see that. They just see these games. It is really cool to watch."

Notes
Pierce's nine 3's also tied the Big Sky record for 3FGM in a game…Monday was the third time an Idaho player has hit nine 3's in a game…Pierce set the record back on Nov. 28, 2015, in Cancun, Mexico, against Iowa State…Ferenz hit the mark on Jan. 1, 2017 at Northern Arizona…Idaho's 15 3' fell three shy of tying the school record of 18…Idaho has now hit a 3 in 301 straight games…Pierce improved her career total to 215 career 3's…Ferenz hit five 3's on the night to give her 197…Idaho's 31 FG's, 50.8 FG percentage and 62.5 3FG percentage marked season-highs…CSUF's 60 points was the fewest allowed by Idaho this season.

Upcoming
Idaho closes out the week against Wyoming on Saturday. It will be the final game for the women' in Memorial Gym until the final week of the season. Tip is set for 6 p.m.