Nelson’s career-high 30 points secure Vandal hoops victory over Weber State

MOSCOW — The Vandal bench got on its feet and the Idaho faithful got loud after Olivia Nelson sank a wide-open 3-pointer from the right wing late in the fourth quarter of Idaho’s win over Weber State.

The trey — just Nelson’s second of the game — raised her personal tally to 30 points, a new career high. It only took a matter of seconds for the graduate student from Kansas City to realize it.

“I made that 3 and then El (Ella Uriarte) comes in my face and goes, ‘Let’s goooo,’” Nelson said. “Then I looked up and saw I was at 30.”

Nelson’s big showing and a near double-double from Jennifer Aadland (14 points, nine rebounds) propelled the Vandals to a 77-62 win over Weber State on Thursday at the ICCU Arena in Moscow in Big Sky women’s basketball play.

It was the second-most points the Vandals had scored in a single game all season and the most against an NCAA Division I opponent.

Weber State (7-11, 4-4) entered the night in fourth place in the conference, one spot below Idaho (15-5, 7-2).

“It was good to have that win against the team that was right behind us in the standings,” Idaho coach Arthur Moreira said. “It creates some separation for the third seed and shows that we deserve to be in the top three with NAU (Northern Arizona) and Montana State.”

Nelson’s career night

Nelson was one point shy of a career-high on Jan. 18 versus Eastern Washington when she missed a free throw in the final minute of the game.

On Thursday, she tallied a career high without stepping foot at the foul line.

“They had 20 free throws. We had six,” Moreira said. “I know I don’t really complain to the refs a lot, but, you know, maybe I need to start being a little more like any other coach and get some calls, but it’s not in my nature.”

Nelson made a startling two-thirds of her shots from the floor to eclipse her previous high of 29 points.

She made just two 3-pointers and did not take any free throws yet still totaled a career-high because of a variety of driving layups and some stellar midrange shots.

“I was put in great positions to score,” Nelson said. “I think the post had great screens for me that allowed me to get downhill.”

The graduate point guard found the ball in her hands in the waning seconds of the first, second and third quarters and scored a basket each time.

In the final seconds of the first quarter, Nelson dribbled the clock down, shuffled to her right, drove toward the basket, made a Wildcat hit the hardwood and laid in the shot to beat the buzzer and extend the Vandals’ lead to 23-12.

In the waning seconds of the second quarter, Nelson once again found herself with the ball in her hand. She put a shot up, didn’t see it fall, grabbed her own rebound and saw her second chance shot fall through the nylon to beat the buzzer.

“Playing for five years, I think I’ve had the ball a lot in my hands at the end of quarters,” Nelson said. “Just being able to hear (assistant coach) Drew (Muscatell), hear what he’s calling, and being able to execute is a great feeling.”

Vandals the more physical team

Idaho won the rebounding battle 50-35, however, Weber State capitalized on its 12-2 offensive rebound advantage with 17 second-chance points compared to Idaho’s six.

Weber State sophomore forward Taylor Smith of Pocatello hauled in four offensive rebounds and posted 16 points. Senior forward Rose Bubakar paced the Wildcats with 17 points and a 6-for-7 clip from the free-throw line.

Moreira said he was pleased with the Vandals’ defense and their on-court communication.

“I’ll probably have to look back on film and see why we gave up 20 free throws,” Moreira said. “But if you take away the free throws, I thought our defense was really good.”

For more than four minutes in the third quarter, the Vandals and the Wildcats locked each other in a scoring drought.

Moreira said the Vandals’ offense was working, getting them plenty of decent looks, but the shots were simply not falling.

While the Vandals struggled to meet the nylon for four minutes, the Wildcats did as well.

“If you take away the third quarter, we probably shot, like, 60%,” Moreira said. “That’s when it helps to have a good defense too because we weren’t making shots, but we still held them to 22%.”

A team effort

While Nelson owns the headlines with a career night, Aadland and Hope Hassmann turned in plus-minus nights of plus-13 and 14, respectively, as Aadland scored seven of her 14 points in the first quarter and Hassmann posted 11 points and eight assists.

“Jennifer is just a machine, man. She rebounds the crap out of the ball,” Moreira said. “It’s really hard to teach. She just has a knack for reading where the ball is going to come off of the rim. She’s a great athlete, you know, she’s a great jumper. So she can kind of grab some rebounds over people. It’s really nice to have her.”

The screens and passes from Aadland and Hassmann and others helped make Nelson’s night possible.

“(Aadland) does all the right things,” Nelson said. “She plays defense, she gets rebounds, she finds the extra pass. And I think she had a great game tonight and let’s hope she has a great game against Idaho State too. A big one on Saturday.”

Idaho State ahead

The Vandals, sporting a 9-1 record at ICCU Arena, will host their in-state rival Idaho State at 2 p.m. Saturday.

The Bengals arrive in Moscow with a 7-12 overall record and a 2-6 conference record, but Idaho is not overlooking them.

Moreira has a lot of respect for Idaho State coach Seton Sobolewski.

“Coach Seton (Sobolewski) is one of the best coaches in the league, probably one of the best coaches in the country,” Moreira said. “I feel like even when he doesn’t have as much talent as he’s had in the past, his teams are always good. They’re always competing with the top teams in the conference.”

WEBER STATE (7-11, 4-4)

Emma-Nnopu 2-9 2-2 6, Smith 6-18 3-3 16, Bubakar 5-8 6-7 17, Parra 2-14 6-6 11, Eskelson 0-2 0-0 0, Nap 0-3 0-0 0, Billy 4-6 0-0 10, Peaua 0-4 2-2 2. Totals 19-64 19-20 62.

IDAHO (15-5, 7-2)

Nelson 14-21 0-0 30, Hassmann 4-9 0-0 11, Aadland 6-20 0-0 14, Schweizer 1-4 3-4 5, Bukvic 0-1 0-0 0, Brans 1-2 0-0 3, Passos Alves da Silva 1-1 0-0 2, Pinheiro 2-8 0-0 4, Uriarte 1-3 2-2 5, Deaver 0-0 0-0 0, Curtis 1-1 0-0 3. Totals 31-70 5-6 77.

Weber State 12 17 12 21—62

Idaho 23 17 11 26—77

3-point goals — WSU 5-20 (Smith 1-4, Bubakar 1-3, Parra 1-7, Eskelson 0-2, Billy 2-4) Idaho 8-20 (Nelson 2-4, Hassmann 3-5, Aadland 2-8, Brans1-2, Pinheiro 0-1, Uriarte 1-3, Curtis 1-1). Assists — WSU 5 (Nap 2) Idaho 19 (Hassmann 8) Fouled out — None. Rebounds — WSU. 35 (Smith 7) Idaho 50 (Schweizer 11). Total Fouls — WSU. 9, Idaho 17. Technical Fouls — None. Attendance — 1,424.

Taylor can be reached at 208-848-2268, staylor@lmtribune.com or on X (formerly Twitter) @Sam_C_Taylor.