Idaho’s women’s basketball team knew it was going to have to get out to a quick start against one of the best teams in the Big Sky Conference on Thursday if they were to have a chance to win.
It didn’t happen.
Northern Arizona scored 12 of the first 14 points and never looked back in routing the Vandals 90-67 before 1,558 at Idaho Central Credit Union Arena.
“I saw absolutely no defense and absolutely no rebounding, once again,” Idaho coach Jon Newlee said. “The tone was set at the beginning. They shot it six times, and they got five (offensive) boards off those six shots. We let their guys drive and do whatever they wanted to do. Embarassing defensive effort tonight. Apparently, we’re going to have change something defensively. We’re going to have to go in a different direction.”
Four players scored in double figures for the Lumberjacks (11-9, 5-2), who entered as the top scoring team in the Big Sky. Regan Schenck tallied 21 points, seven rebounds and seven assists. Montana Oltrogge had 19 points and 13 rebounds. Sophie Glancey finished with 18 points and five rebounds. Nyah Moran came off the bench for 14 points in 13 minutes.
Senior forward Beyonce Bea had 17 points and six rebounds for the Vandals (6-12, 2-5), who have lost five consecutive games in the conference after starting 2-0. Freshman forward Sarah Brans contributed 14 points in 14 minutes. Junior guard Sydney Gandy tallied 11 points. Freshman guard Rosa Smith chipped in 10 points.
Northern Arizona stepped on the gas immediately and never let off. The Lumberjacks shot 50% or better in all four quarters, and it held a massive rebounding advantage, leading to a huge margin in points in the paint.
Despite the fact Northern Arizona held a 10-point advantage early in the contest, Idaho cut the gap to 12-8 with 3:15 left in the first quarter on a layup by Smith. Just as quick, on the other hand, the Lumberjacks increased their lead back to that 10-point cushion, at 21-11, to end the first.
Glancey’s layup at the 6:42 mark of the second put Northern Arizona up 30-15, but the Vandals tallied the next five points to get back within 10.
That’s as close as Idaho would get the rest of the game, as the Lumberjacks had a 19-point lead late in the half before heading into the locker room up 45-31.
It got no better in the third quarter for the Vandals, who found themsevles trailing by as many as 24 points and went to the fourth quarter down 67-48.
For the game, Northern Arizona was 37-for-71 (52.1%) from the field, including 8-of-20 (40%) on 3-pointers. Conversely, Idaho was 20-for-56 (35.7%) shooting, including 8-of-25 (32%) from beyond the arc.
The Lumberjacks, who are No. 1 in the Big Sky in rebounds per game, held a 46-29 rebounding advantage and held significant margins in points in the paint (50-20) and fast-break points (12-2).
Idaho will try to rebound at 6 p.m. Saturday at home against Northern Colorado.
NORTHERN ARIZONA (11-9, 5-2)
Schenck 9-13 2-2 21, Oltrogge 8-14 0-0 19, Glancey 8-11 2-3 18, Rodabaugh 1-7 0-0 2, O. Moran 0-4 2-2 2, N. Moran 5-7 0-0 14, Feldman 2-5 0-0 4, McMorris 2-5 0-0 4, Jaiteh 2-3 0-0 4, Neverson 0-2 2-2 2. Totals 37-71 8-9 90.
IDAHO (6-12, 2-5)
B. Bea 6-17 5-7 17, Gandy 3-9 2-4 11, Smith 2-8 6-6 10, Phillips 2-4 3-4 7, Johnson 0-2 0-0 0, Brans 5-6 0-0 14, Malone 1-3 2-4 5, J. Bea 1-2 0-0 2, Kilty 0-2 1-2 1, Wallace 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 20-56 19-27 67.
Northern Arizona 21 24 22 23—90
Idaho 11 20 17 19—67
3-point goals — Northern Arizona 8-20 (N. Moran 4-6, Oltrogge 3-4, Schenck 1-1, O. Moran 0-1, McMorris 0-2, Neverson 0-2, Rodabaugh 0-4), Idaho 8-25 (Brans 4-5, Gandy 3-7, Malone 1-3, B. Bea 0-1, Johnson 0-2, Kilty 0-2, Wallace 0-2, Smith 0-3). Rebounds — Northern Arizona 46 (Oltrogge 13), Idaho 29 (B. Bea, Phillips 6). Assists — Northern Arizona 15 (Schenck 7), Idaho 8 (Wallace 3). Total fouls — Northern Arizona 19, Idaho 10. A — 1,558.
