PHOENIX, Ariz. – Sydney Gandy hit a long three with less than a second remaining to tie the game at 72, forcing overtime. She then added five points in OT to lead Idaho women's basketball to an 81-72 road win over Grand Canyon Sunday afternoon in Phoenix.
The Vandals overcame an 11-point deficit, including an eight-point deficit with under two minutes to play in regulation.
Idaho jumped out to a 7-0 lead on a three-pointer from
Rosa Smith and back-to-back buckets from
Beyonce Bea, but GCU battled back and held Idaho scoreless for the final 4:20 of the first quarter to tie the game at 12 after one.
The Antelopes outscored Idaho 23-13 in the second quarter to take a 35-25 lead and all the momentum into the break.
Idaho started the second quarter on a 13-4 run to cut the deficit to 38-39 before the two teams began to battle back. Grand Canyon closed the third quarter on a 4-0 run to take a 54-47 lead into the fourth.
The Vandals took a 1-0 lead with 7:54 left in the fourth on a Smith three-pointer, but GCU rallied to retake the lead. Things looked bleak with leading scorer Bea fouling out with 2:26 to play on an offensive foul and the Antelopes took a 69-61 lead on the ensuing possession.
The Vandals cut the lead to 72-69 on a
Tiana Johnson free throw with 39 seconds left before Johnson forced a held ball with nine seconds left giving Idaho one last shot in regulation. Gandy drove the ball to the top of the arch, drove, then stepped back for the long three to tie it with .3 left in regulation. GCU couldn't get a shot off and the game went to OT.
After trading baskets early, Gandy hit another deep three from the top of the key to put Idaho up 77-74 and Smith added a layup with 3:09 left to put Idaho up 79-74. GCU responded with a pair of baskets to cut the lead to 79-78 with 2:00 remaining.
Neither team could find a field goal for the rest of the game. Gandy hit a pair of free throws to extend the lead to 81-78 with 8 seconds remaining. The Vandals forced another jump ball with just over a second to go. The Lopes hit a shot off of the inbound pass and appeared to tie the game, but the made basket was waived off after replay clinching the win for Idaho.
The win was the first back-to-back win for the Vandals this season coming off of a home win over Denver on Thursday.
The Vandals were 31-65 (48.4%) from the field and 8-35 (32%) from the three-point line. The Vandals outrebounded Grand Canyon 43-40, the first opponent that Idaho has outrebounded all season.
Idaho scored 44 points in the paint and outscored GCU 13-2 in fastbreak points. The Vandals tied a season-high with 18 assists as a team.
Gandy led Idaho with 20 points while
Asha Phillips added 11 and Smith added 16 and a career-high 10 assists for her first career double-double. It is the first Points/Assists double-double for the Vandals since the 2020 season.
Bea scored 18 points and added 11 rebounds for her 21st career double-double. With her 18 points, she now has 1,485 points, moving her past Leilani Mitchell for the 10th spot on the Vandal all-time scoring list.
The win moves Idaho to 4-6 on the year and is the biggest win of the year. Grand Canyon is now 8-2 on the year and has a NET ranking of 97. The NET ranking is the third highest of any Vandal opponent this season and over 130 teams higher than Idaho's next-highest win on the season (New Mexico State 229).
The Vandals close non-conference play with a road game at Utah Valley in Orem, Utah on Wednesday at 1 p.m. UVU is 2-8 on the season and 0-8 against Division I opponents.
