NORTHRIDGE, Calif. - Taylor Pierce hit pivotal 3-pointer late in the fourth quarter Friday night to lead the Idaho women's basketball team to an 80-75 victory over Cal-State Northridge in the Center Marriott Thanksgiving Classic.
"I think it was huge," coach Jon Newlee said. "We knew coming in here that they were a talented team. We knew they had shooters. We know these guys. Our greatest fear was that they were going to break out of their (shooting) slump."
Pierce's shot from beyond the arc with under a minute to play gave the Vandals a 76-73 lead, and a pair of free throws from senior forward Geraldine McCorkell iced the game.
"We ran the play and didn't get the screen we wanted," Newlee said of Pierce's basket. "She just kept coming and got that dribble-handoff. It was a huge shot for us. We needed that right then and there."
McCorkell finished the night with 25 points, while junior Mikayla Ferenz added another 22 and seven assists.
The win advances Idaho (2-2) to the tournament championship game against TCU (4-1) tonight at 7:30 p.m.
IDAHO (2-2)
McCorkell 10-15 3-4 25, Ferenz 8-19 3-4 22, Kirby 3-4 4-4 13. Pierce 4-13 0-0 12, Solo 0-1 1-2 1, Hadden 3-4 0-0 7, Carlson 0-2 0-0 0, Klinker 0-0 0-0 0.
CAL-STATE NORTHRIDGE (0-5)
Boagni 8-13 0-3 18, Maulupe 6-15 2-2 15, Henderson 5-6 2-2 14, Nate 2-8 0-0 6, Matthews 3-4 0-0 6, Fluker 5-7 3-3 13, Ramos 1-2 0-0 3, Sullivan 0-2 0-0 0, Louis 0-3 0-0 0.
Idaho 23 23 16 16-80
Cal-State Northridge 18 17 25 15-75
3-point goals - Idaho 13-31 (McCorkell 2-7, Ferenz 3-8, Kirby 3-4, Pierce 4-11, Hadden 1-1), Cal-State Northridge (Nate 2-7, Boagni 2-6, Henderson 2-2, Maulupe 1-5, Ramos 1-2, Louis 0-2, Sullivan 0-1). Fouled out - none. Rebounds - Idaho 30 (McCorkell 6), Cal-State Northridge 34 (Fluker 8). Assists - Idaho 19 (Pierce 4), Cal-State Northridge 18 (Maulupe 7). Total fouls - Idaho 15, Cal-State Northridge 18. A - 556.
Eastern Oregon 62, LCSC 50
CALDWELL - The Lewis-Clark State women's basketball team had the early lead against Eastern Oregon, but the Warriors couldn't sustain the momentum and fell 62-50 in a nonconference game at the College of Idaho's Lady Coyote Classic.
"It's always disappointing whenever you lose," coach Brian Orr said. "We need to give Eastern Oregon a ton of credit. They had a good plan and executed it with discipline the entire 40 minutes."
In the early going, the Warriors were effective inside and out in building leads of as many as 10 points in the first quarter. But, after scoring 16 points in the first 10 minutes, LCSC managed just 34 for the remainder of the game as they began to struggle from the field and on the boards.
"We looked really good on both ends the first quarter," Orr said, "but we lost our offensive flow in the second quarter and, except for a few minutes in the second half, we struggled to make baskets."
The Warriors finished the night shooting just 34.6 percent from the field, which includes 29.2 percent from 3-point range. Furthermore, they lost the rebounding battle 42-29 with Jossilyn Blackman's six boards a team-high.
Senior Lauren Johnson paced the Warriors (6-2) with 17 points, three rebounds and three assists but she was the only Warrior to reach double-figure scoring.
The Warriors take on College of Idaho at 4 p.m. PST Saturday before returning to the Activity Center to open Frontier Conference play Thursday against Montana Western.
Lewis-Clark State (6-2)
Johnson 6-14 2-2 17, Turner 3-7 2-2 8, Edmiston 3-6 0-0 7, Tackett 3-6 1-2 7, Souvenir 1-5 2-2 5, Moscrip 1-4 0-0 3, Henery 1-3 0-0 3, Blackman 0-2 0-0 0, Burland 0-2 0-0 0, Johnson 0-2 0-0 0, Burlage 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 18-52 7-8 50.
Eastern Oregon (6-1)
Ah You-Dias 11-24 0-0 24, Bauer 2-7 2-2 8, Parrish 2-5 0-0 6, Swanson 3-8 0-0 6, Sexson 1-5 0-0 2, Herrud 4-9 0-0 10, Hogan 3-3 0-0 6, Smith 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 26-62 2-2 62.
Lewis-Clark State 16 10 14 10-50
Eastern Oregon 8 26 13 15-62
3-point goals - Lewis-Clark State 7-24 (Johnson 3-10, Turner 0-1, Edmiston 1-1, Souvenir 1-4, Moscrip 1-3, Burland 0-1, Burlage 0-1), Eastern Oregon 8-25 (Ah You-Dias 2-5, Bauer 2-5, Parrish 2-5, Swanson 0-1, Sexson 0-3, Herrud 2-6). Rebounds - Lewis Clark State 29 (Blackman 6), Eastern Oregon 42 (Ah You-Dias 13). Assists - Lewis-Clark State 10 (Johnson 3, Souvenir 3), Eastern Oregon 8 (Ah You-Dias 3). Fouls - Lewis-Clark State 7, Eastern Oregon 12. Fouled out - Herrud. Technicals - none. Attendance - 450.
South Florida 82, WSU 45
ESTERO, Fla. - An ice-cold start to Washington State's stay in sunny Florida doomed the Cougs, who were unable to recover from a scoreless first quarter in their 82-45 loss to No. 17 South Florida on day one of the Gulf Coast Showcase.
Nothing went right offensively for Washington State (1-4) in the opening 20 minutes of play. The Cougs failed to score until early in the second quarter when Borislava Hristova nailed a trey, cutting into the Bulls' 19-point lead.
At halftime, however, the Cougs were down by 27 and South Florida (5-0) had only just started to heat up from the floor.
While the Cougs found some offense in the second half hitting 42.9 percent of their shots, the Bulls hit a blistering 57.7 percent of their shots in the game's final 20 minutes of action.
Hristova saw her four-game double-digit scoring streak, and her two-game 20-point scoring streak come to an end as she netted eight points, all in the first half, in 22 minutes of action.
Louise Brown led the Cougs in scoring with nine points, seven of which came in the third quarter.
The loss marks the first time WSU has gone scoreless in a period since the women's game switched to quarters in 2015. The previous low was four points in a quarter against Washington in the 2016-2017 season.
The Cougs will take on East Tennessee State at 10:30 a.m. PST today on the consolation side of the bracket. ETSU fell to No. 6 Notre Dame in the night cap of day one of the Gulf Coast Showcase.
Washington State (1-4)
Hailey 0-1 1-2 1, Washington 0-2 0-0 0, Molina 1-5 0-0 2, Kostourkova 2-3 0-0 4, Hristova 3-13 0-0 8, Brown 3-5 2-2 9, Muzet 0-3 0-0 0, McClure 2-5 1-4 5, Pavlopoulou 2-7 2-2 6, Swedlund 3-11 0-0 6, Subasic 2-2 0-0 5. Totals 18-59 6-10 45.
USF (5-0)
Ferreira 4-5 4-4 14, Jespersen 5-10 3-4 15, Flores 2-4 3-6 7, Henshaw 4-5 0-0 8, Laksa 9-16 0-0 23, Prieto 0-0 3-4 4, Blagmon 0-4 0-0 1, Leverett 2-2 1-1 5, Pehadzic 3-9 0-0 7. Totals 29-55 14-19 82.
Washington State 0 8 20 17-45
USF 17 18 27 20-82
3-point goals - Washington State 3-19 (Hailey 0-1, Molina 0-2, Hristova 2-6, Brown 1-2, Muzet 0-1, Pavlopoulou 0-2, Swedlund 0-5), USF 10-16 (Ferreira 2-2, Jespersen 2-3, Laksa 5-9, Pehadzic 1-2). Rebounds - Washington State 25 (Subasic), USF 46 (Jespersen 11). Assists - Washington State 11 (Pavlopoulou 6), USF 16 (Flores 7). Fouls - Washington State 19, USF 13. Fouled out - Leverett. Technicals - none. Attendance - 1207.
MEN'S BASKETBALL
Cal-State Bakersfield 64, Idaho 62
ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Justin Davis buried a 3-pointer with two seconds left in the game and Cal State Bakersfield rallied for a 64-62 victory over Idaho on Friday night at the Great Alaska Shootout.
"You have to give Bakersfield the credit," Vandal coach Don Verlin said. "I said in the pregame that whoever wins the rebound battle was going to win this game and that's exactly the way it played out tonight.
Davis came off the bench to score nine points and grab five rebounds for the Roadrunners (4-2), who led 59-52 with 3:30 left to play. But Victor Sanders got hot late for the Vandals (3-2), scoring seven straight points and knocking down a 3-pointer to put Idaho up 62-61 with 1:04 remaining. However, Sanders missed the front end of a one-and-one with seven seconds to play, Shon Briggs grabbed the rebound and fed Davis for the game-winner.
"It's one of those things, it's early in the season, it's a young season," Verlin said. "You give me the Big Sky Championship with eight seconds to go and we're up one with Victor Sanders on the line and I'll take it every day. Twice on Sundays."
Rickey Holden totaled 15 points and Moataz Aly and Shon Briggs each scored 11 for the Roadrunners.
Sanders and Perrion Callandret paced the Vandals with 18 points apiece. Idaho connected on 10 of 24 3-pointers, but just 12 of 30 shots from inside the arc.
CSU Bakersfield had a 37-34 edge on the boards and committed just four turnovers.
"They were able to score it pretty easily on us and then they were able to get to the offensive boards," Verlin said. "They did what championship-level teams do, and that's find a way to get it done."
IDAHO (3-2)
Callandret 6=10 4-5 18, Sanders 6-12 2-3 18, Scott 3-5 0-0 7, Blake 2-9 0-2 5, N. Sherwood 1-5 1-1 3, Allen 2-6 1-1 6, C. Sherwood 1-4 0-0 3, Blakney 1-3 0-0 2.
CAL-STATE BAKERSFIELD (4-2)
Holden 5-13 3-3 15, Briggs 4-13 6-9 14, Aly 7-8 0-3 14, Wrapp 2-4 0-0 6, Joiner 0-4 0-0 0, Davis 3-6 2-2 9, Durham 2-10 0-0 5, Ndoye 0-0 1-2 1.
Idaho 32 30-62
Cal-State Bakersfield 28 36-64
3-point goals - Idaho 10-24 (Sanders 4-6, Callandret 2-4, Scott 1-3, Blake 1-4, Allen 1-4, C. Sherwood 1-3), Cal-State Bakersfield 6-18 (Durham 1-7, Holden 2-3, Briggs 0-2, Davis 1-3, Wrapp 2-2, Joiner 0-1). Fouled out - none. Rebounds - Idaho 34 (Blake 9), Cal-State Bakersfield 37 (Wrapp 6). Assists - Idaho 21 (Scott 6), Cal-State Bakersfield 16 (Wrapp 6). Total fouls - Idaho 18, Cal-State Bakersfield 14. A - 3,082.
VOLLEYBALL
Huskies sweep Cougs
SEATTLE - The Washington State volleyball team saw its regular season come a bitter close during a three-set road loss to in-state rival Washington in front of a crowd of more than 4,000 spectators.
The set scores were 25-19, 25-13, 25-14.
"Washington is a fantastic team and they showed it tonight," Cougar coach Jen Greeny said. "They definitely won the serve and pass game and we were really having a hard time getting anything going both offensively and defensively. They are a tremendous serving team and they certainly showed that tonight."
The Cougars (17-15 overall, 6-14 Pac-12) will be watching the NCAA Championship tournament selection show 6 p.m. Sunday to learn their postseason fate.
"You never want to leave things in the hands of a committee but the conference we play in is incredibly tough," Greeny said. "And we played a lot of great opponents in the preseason and those teams have done extremely well including a lot of top 50 teams that we had wins against. ... You would think that puts us in for sure but you never know what the committee is going to do."
