MOSCOW, Idaho – The Idaho women's basketball team dropped their Saturday afternoon contest against Montana State. Asha Phillips and Kennedy Johnson led the offensive attack with both dropping points in the double digits. It was a record-breaking night for Phillips who scored a career-high 18 points and grabbed a season-high nine rebounds. 

Idaho was off to a slow start, letting Montana State cruise through the first three minutes of play on an 8–0 run. A pair of turnovers and a few missed scoring opportunities later, the Vandals trailed 2-12 at the media timeout. Following the timeout, Idaho checked in three players off their bench who made an instant impact on the game. Skylar Bea helped tack on four points and Ashlyn Wallace found a bucket as well. The squad kept the Bobcats scoreless for the remaining two and a half minutes of the quarter. 

The Vandals seemed to collect themselves and found some composure to open up the second quarter. Idaho only put up five points in the first five minutes of play, but they were able to limit the Bobcats to only four points and had them shooting just 25% from the paint. In the remaining minutes, both teams traded a few baskets and halftime was called with the Vandals still behind with a score of 17-30. 

Johnson stepped out big for the Vandals at the start of the second half, dropping two shots in the paint and another from deep to give Idaho the start they desperately needed. Both teams then went scoreless for just over two minutes. With under three minutes remaining in the quarter, Montana State had only contributed five points - all of which came from the charity stripe. Johnson not only opened the quarter but closed it as well when she grabbed a steal and took it down to put one in right at the buzzer. 

Idaho opened up the final quarter on a 13-0 run thanks in part to two back-to-back three-pointers from Phillips. Phillips tallied nine points in just a minute and a half helping to cut the Vandals deficit to one with six minutes left to play. The Bobcats responded and held the Vandals scoreless for nearly four minutes, extending their lead to eight. Despite their efforts, Idaho could not overcome their large halftime deficit and the Montana State ultimately walked away with the win. 

The Vandals will conclude a three-game home stretch as they look to find another victory against Sacramento State on Monday at 6 p.m. PST. Idaho comes off an 88-51 win from their previous meeting against the Hornets earlier in the season.