SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The Idaho Vandals started Big Sky Conference play with a dominant 88-51 win over Sacramento State on Thursday night. The 37-point win marked the largest Vandal victory over a Big Sky team since 2019, which was a 104-66 win over Sacramento State on Jan. 26th.
After nine days off for the holidays, Idaho entered the new season with a fire lit beneath them. For the first time since 2021, five Vandals scored in the double digits led by Kennedy Johnson with 17 and Asha Phillips with a career-high of 16. Hope Butera dominated in the paint and on the boards, grabbing her third double-double of the season with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Jenna Kilty saw significant minutes off the bench, scoring a season-high eight points.
The Vandals posted their most impressive shooting efforts all season, going 34-58 (58.6%) from the field and 11-21 (52.4%) from three. All 11 Vandals that saw the court tonight scored at least one point. Defensively, Idaho grabbed 44 rebounds marking their sixth 40+ rebound game of the season. The 90-53 win marked the second consecutive time the Vandals have won a conference opener.
Idaho started with momentum right off the bat. The Vandals challenged the Hornets from all areas of the court, especially deep from the field. Idaho went 5-5 from three in the first 10 minutes, led by Amalie Langer with eight points and 2-2 from three. Phillips also went 2-2 from three with six points in the period. The Hornets only had one scorer in Versteeg with eight points.
The Vandals continued to roll through the Hornets in the second quarter as Phillips tied her career-high in only 17 minutes of play. Idaho went on a 7-0 run thanks to a layup and a jumper from Phillips and a layup from Kennedy. Butera also had her best offensive quarter, dropping six points, going 3-3 from the field.
Idaho entered halftime with their largest lead of the season shooting 59% (19-32) from the field, 73% (8-11) from three, and 75% (3-4) from the charity stripe. Phillips led the squad with 14 points while Langer was right behind with 11. Johnson grabbed six boards and led with four assists. Idaho's defensive efforts limited Sacramento State to 25% (7-28) from the field, 27.3% (3-11 from three, and 66.7% (4-6) from the free throw line.
As the third quarter started, Idaho decided to give the starting five some rest as the bench came on for relief. Kilty scored half of her total points going 2-2 from the field. Butera had a big presence on rebounds, recording five. The Hornets started to gain some footing in the quarter, going on a 6-0 run after a series of turnovers and bad passes from Idaho. The Vandals prevailed, however, due to the large lead they had at the half.
The final quarter sealed the deal for Idaho as they tried to wind down the clock. Michala Bork and Skylar Bea entered the game for the first team, each scoring a handful of points. Johnson led the Vandals with five points, shooting perfectly from FG (2-2) and 3PT (1-1). Aspen Caldwell picked up three rebounds in the quarter as well.
The Vandals made a statement in their first match of conference play on the road with tonight's win. They aim to keep the momentum going as they travel to Portland State on Saturday to take on the Vikings at 2:00 pm. The Vikings are coming off a 58-68 loss to Eastern Washington and have a 5-6 record.
