Balanced Vandals beat rival Grizzlies to move into share of second place in Big Sky

MOSCOW — In their first four minutes, the Vandals shot three 3-pointers, saw five players get on the board and forged a 14-0 lead over Montana.

Double-digit days from five Vandals, including Olivia Nelson (15 points, seven rebounds) and Hope Hassmann (13 points, nine assists) sent Idaho to a 70-57 win over Montana in Big Sky women’s basketball action on Monday at ICCU Arena in Moscow.

“Our offense clicked really well,” Idaho coach Arthur Moreira said. “(Our) 14-0 start is probably our best start of the season. So I felt like that kind of carried us throughout the game. So really good win. Really proud of them.”

Vandals play complimentary basketball

Beginning with a dominant 14-0 run and ending with five Vandals in double figures, Idaho (13-4, 5-1 Big Sky) controlled the game from the tipoff to the final buzzer.

The Vandals held the Grizzlies (7-11, 3-4) to sub-30% shooting overall and from beyond the arc. Idaho outshot Montana 46-28% from the floor and 40-24% from 3-point range.

The Vandals started hot from distance with three 3s as part of their opening 14-point run. Hassman made one of her two 3-pointers in the game’s opening 90 seconds and was soon followed by Jennifer Aadland and Sarah Brans, the lone active returning Vandal.

The Grizzlies would not be so easily dispatched of as they used a 13-12 first-quarter rebound advantage to surge their way back.

Montana made it as close as a four-point game with 6:22 left in the first half thanks to an 18-8 Griz run fueled by five different scorers, three of whom scored at least four points.

Tyler McCliment-Call posted five points in this span and Mack Konig added four of her Griz-leading 10 points in this nearly nine-minute period.

When Montana got as close as four points with 6:12 left in the first half, Idaho used a 13-7 run to enter halftime up 10, 35-25.

Freshman Ana Beatriz Passos flashed her blooming ability with a personal 6-2 run in a two-minute span in the second quarter. The freshman from São Paulo, Brazil, sank a 3-pointer from the top of the key, then drove along the right side of the rim to pick up a traditional three-point play.

After committing a turnover, she redeemed herself with another trip to the foul line, where she sank a free throw to restore Idaho’s 10-point lead with 2:50 left in the first half.

Passos entered the game because Rosie Schweizer played just six minutes and Aadland played nine after drawing early foul trouble.

With two of the team’s best rebounders out of the game, Moreira knew he could trust Passos to deliver.

“That’s what she does, man,” Moreira said. “I’m biased, but I think she’s the best pure athlete in the conference. There’s not many people like her in our league, so as she learns how to play basketball and play through mistakes, she’s got a chance to be really good.”

Idaho opened the second half protecting a 10-point lead and the Vandals once again got hot from beyond the arc. Over a period of 3 minutes and 28 seconds, three Vandals sank 3-pointers.

The arena fell silent as Nelson’s long ball glided through the air, the silence broken by one of the best sounds in sports: “the swish” followed by the cheers of a delighted crowd.

Sarah Brans, another role player who granted a reprieve to the starters, made another 3 to put Idaho up 47-35 with six minutes left in the third quarter off one of Hassmann’s nine assists.

Hassmann said that she told Brans and the other bench players to be aggressive when they are on the floor.

“That’s something special about our team, we don’t just have a starting five, we have people who can come off the bench and contribute,” Hassmann said. “Me and Olivia (Nelson) always give them confidence coming off the bench, and we know what they can do, and they’re special players.”

Hassmann made her second 3 about two minutes after Brans’ trey to forge a 52-39 Idaho lead late in the third.

The Vandals stayed aggressive with a 24-point third quarter before they wound down the clock with 11 points off long possessions in the fourth to win 70-57.

Grizzlies get paws on the ball

The Griz gave themselves second and even third-chance points with a 44-41 rebounding advantage.

Moreira said the Vandals’ rebounding performance would be his one nitpick of the game.

“Usually, we’re a really good rebounding team and they ended up outrebounding us,” Moreira said. “Fourteen (offensive) boards is a lot. We have to be better at that. But I felt like in the second half, we made an adjustment.”

Montana’s MJ Bruno pulled down four of the Griz’s 14 offensive rebounds, however, she got none in the second half after the Vandals responded to their coach’s challenge.

“We sat in the locker room at halftime and said ‘That’s it, like she’s gonna end the game with four,’ which she did,” Moreira said. “So I felt like our sense of urgency coming out of halftime was really good when it came to rebounding the ball and (not) giving them extra opportunities.”

Trust in Hassmann

Hassmann scored just eight combined points over the two games prior to Monday but bounced back with 13 points and nine assists against Montana.

“There’s a reason, even when she wasn’t shooting well, I left her on the floor for 36 minutes last week,” Moreira said. “She’s just willing to do whatever it takes for us to win.”

Hassmann said that trust from her coach is why she chose to transfer to Idaho.

“I just want to win games, and that’s the same thing with our staff, and I feel like we have exactly the right roster to do that,” Hassmann said. “We don’t have anyone that’s selfish.

“I know we can get far. Our goal is to win the conference championship, and as of right now, we know we can get there, and we just got to keep rolling, keep getting sweeps and just keep getting dubs.”

What’s next for Idaho

The Vandals 14-player roster is composed of a majority of transfers with just two players having played for Idaho before this season.

Nonetheless, Idaho is off to a 13-4 start thanks to contributions up and down the lineup.

“We’re all truly just competitors. We all want to win,” Hassmann said. “I feel like not a lot of teams have that team camaraderie of putting it all on the floor and wanting to win each and every day. Not just games, but whether that’s practice, shooting around, or getting in the gym. I feel like our team loves doing that.”

The Vandals next will face Northern Colorado at 5 p.m. Thursday and Northern Arizona at 11 a.m. Saturday on the road.

It’s a trip to higher elevations with elevated importance in the standings.

Monday’s win moved the Vandals to a tie with Northern Arizona for second place in the Big Sky with a 5-1 conference record.

However, Moreira said his team thrives when living in the moment. It’s an idea that Hassmann has bought wholly into.

“I didn’t even know today that we were up 14-zero,” Hassmann said. “We all just like to stay in the moment and get hot. As a team, We don’t get high, we don’t get too low. I feel like we stay pretty composed and that’s what really helps us.

“We just got to keep coming in confident and know that we can beat any team in this conference.”

MONTANA (7-11, 3-4)

Bartsch 2-10 2-2 8, Shubert 2-5 2-2 8, Dornarski 2-6 0-1 4, Zingaro 1-2 2-2 4, Bruno 1-6 0-0 2, Konig 5-14 0-0 10, McCliment-Call 1-11 4-4 7, Waddington 2-8 0-0 5, Lincoln 2-4 0-0 5, Prog 2-5 0-0 4. Totals 20-71 10-11 57.

IDAHO (13-4, 5-1)

Nelson 5-10 4-4 15, Hassmann 4-10 3-4 13, Aadland 4-8 1-1 1-, Schweizer 5-11 0-0 10, Bukvic 1-5 1-2 3, Brans 4-7 0-0 11, Passos Alves da Silva 3-4 1-2 8, Pinheiro 0-1 0-0 0, Uriarte 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 26-56 10-13 70.

3-point goals — MONT. 7-29 (Bartsch 2-9, Shubert 2-4, Donarski 0-1, Bruno 0-1, Konig 0-4, McCliment-Call 1-4, Waddington 1-4, Lincoln 1-2.), Idaho 8-20 (Nelson 1-2, Schweizer 0-3, Hassmann 2-4, Aadland 1-3, Brans 3-5, Bukvic 0-2, Passos Alves da Silva 1-1). Assists — MONT. 11 (Bruno 4), Idaho 16 (Hassmann 9). Fouled out — None. Rebounds — MONT. 44 (Waddington 10), Idaho 41 (Aadland 8). Total Fouls — MONT. 16, Idaho 14. Technical Fouls — None.

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