SAN DIEGO – Rosa Smith scored a career-high 17 points and added six assists while Sydney Gandy came off the bench to score 17 as Idaho women's basketball overcame a 15-point first half deficit to top New Mexico 68-62 Sunday afternoon at the University of San Diego Winter Classic.
 
The Vandals struggled to get going early, NMSU jumped out to a 10-1 lead before the Idaho offense scored a field goal. The Aggies led 22-8 at the end of the first quarter.
 
Idaho took control in the second. With 5:47 left in the second quarter, Idaho started a 30-7 run that lasted over 10 minutes of game time and saw the Vandals go from down 13 (27-14) to up 10 (44-34). The run also included a 9-0 run to close the half to cut the deficit to 30-27 at the break.
 
The Vandals led 44-34 with 5:28 to play in the third before the Aggies battled back to cut the lead to 47-44 at the end of the third and tied the game early in the fourth at 47.
 
Gandy hit three three-pointers early in the fourth to put the Vandals up 58-51. The two teams traded runs before NMSU cut the lead to 63-62 with just over two minutes left, but Tiana Johnson hit a baseline three-pointer just seconds later which proved to be a dagger.
 
The Vandals added a couple free throws down the stretch to set the final score at 68-62.
 
Johnson joined Smith and Gandy in double figures with 10. Idaho was 13-24 (54.2%) from the three-point line in the game, including 9-13 (69.2%) in the second half. The Vandals were 23-46 (50%) overall and notched 15 assists on 23 made shots.
 
The lone shooting blemish on the night came from the free-throw line where the Vandals were 9-20 (45%).
 
With the win, Idaho is now 2-4 on the year and NMSU falls to 3-5 on the season. The Vandals continue the road stretch next week with games at Texas A&M Commerce on Wednesday and at UTSA Saturday.