COLLEGE ROUNDUP: Vandals victorious on buzzer-beater against UNC

COLLEGE ROUNDUP

MOSCOW — Kolton Mitchell dribbled the ball down the court and sank a deep contested 3-pointer as time expired to lift the Idaho Vandals to a 77-76 upset victory over the Northern Colorado Bears in Big Sky Conference men’s basketball play on Thursday at ICCU Arena.

Teammates rushed the court to mob Mitchell, who shouted and gestured to the animated Vandal fans in the stands in celebration of the epic ending.

Idaho (9-11, 4-3) trailed 36-26 at halftime before rallying to inflict the first conference defeat of the season on Northern Colorado (14-6, 6-1).

As a team, Idaho trailed 33-22 in rebounds and 14-5 in assists, but committed only eight turnovers to the Bears’ 12.

The Vandal offense was led by Mitchell with a game-high 25 points, shooting 5-for-9 beyond the arc including the game-winning buzzer-beater.

Tyler Linhardt dropped a season-best 17 points, while Julius Mims tallied 10 points and five rebounds. Kyson Rose also got to work against the Bears, scoring six off the bench to reach the 1,000-career-points milestone.

Northern Colorado was led by Langston Reynolds with 22 points.

N. COLORADO (14-6, 6-1)

Wisne 6-10 2-2 14, Bloch 1-8 0-0 2, Denker 5-9 0-0 12, Reynolds 5-8 11-11 22, Rillie 8-10 2-2 19, McCreary 1-4 1-2 3, Shields 1-2 0-4 2, Jackson 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 28-53 16-21 76.

IDAHO (9-11, 4-3)

Mims 3-4 4-4 10, Mrus 2-4 1-2 6, Gonzalez 1-3 0-0 2, Mitchell 6-12 8-9 25, Payne 0-3 0-0 0, Anderson 0-3 4-4 4, Linhardt 5-8 7-9 17, Rose 3-7 0-0 6, Brickner 2-4 2-2 7, Hardy 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 22-48 26-30 77.

Halftime — N. Colorado 36-26. 3-Point Goals — N. Colorado 4-17 (Denker 2-5, Reynolds 1-1, Rillie 1-2, Jackson 0-1, Wisne 0-1, McCreary 0-2, Bloch 0-5), Idaho 7-19 (Mitchell 5-9, Brickner 1-2, Mrus 1-3, Payne 0-2, Anderson 0-3). Rebounds — N. Colorado 31 (Wisne 7), Idaho 21 (Mims 5). Assists — N. Colorado 14 (Wisne, Reynolds, Rillie 3), Idaho 5 (Gonzalez 2). Total Fouls — N. Colorado 22, Idaho 17. A — 1,716 (4,200).

Santa Clara 93, Washington State 65

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — LeJuan Watts notched a triple-double of 20 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists for traveling Washington State, but the Cougars still suffered a West Coast Conference defeat to Santa Clara.

The Cougs (15-6, 5-3) also enjoyed 16 points from Ethan Price and a career-high 11 from Rihards Vavers.

WASHINGTON ST. (15-6, 5-3)

Erikstrup 2-4 0-0 5, Price 7-14 0-0 16, L.Watts 7-10 3-7 20, Calmese 1-7 1-2 3, Thrastarson 1-1 2-2 4, Vavers 3-8 2-2 11, Gerrits 1-2 0-0 2, Wynott 0-0 0-0 0, Okafor 2-7 0-0 4, Sessoms 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-53 8-13 65.

SANTA CLARA (14-7, 6-2)

Tilly 6-13 1-1 13, Bal 6-12 1-1 16, Bryan 3-8 0-0 8, Ensminger 3-7 4-5 10, Stewart 5-10 3-4 14, Mahi 2-6 0-0 6, O’Neil 6-9 0-0 17, Knapper 1-3 0-0 2, Tongue 2-3 3-3 7, Douyon 0-0 0-0 0, Yarusso 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 34-72 12-14 93.

Halftime — Santa Clara 49-38. 3-Point Goals — Washington St. 9-23 (L.Watts 3-3, Vavers 3-7, Price 2-8, Erikstrup 1-3, Calmese 0-1, Gerrits 0-1), Santa Clara 13-32 (O’Neil 5-7, Bal 3-7, Mahi 2-2, Bryan 2-6, Stewart 1-3, Knapper 0-1, Tongue 0-1, Yarusso 0-1, Ensminger 0-2, Tilly 0-2). Fouled Out — Erikstrup. Rebounds — Washington St. 28 (L.Watts 11), Santa Clara 37 (Tilly 10). Assists — Washington St. 19 (L.Watts 10), Santa Clara 18 (Bal, Knapper 4). Total Fouls — Washington St. 17, Santa Clara 16.

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

Idaho 68, Northern Colorado 57

GREELEY, Colo. — Olivia Nelson went off for 27 points and eight rebounds to lead the way for the traveling Vandals in a Big Sky Conference win over Northern Colorado.

Hope Hassman scored another 12 and Rosie Schweizer added 10 for Idaho (14-4, 6-1), which has won six straight and sits in second place in conference standings.

IDAHO (14-4, 6-1)

Hassmann 4-11 4-4 12, Aadland, Nelson 10-15 4-5 27, Bukvic 2-6 0-0 4, Schweizer 4-8 2-4 10, Brans 1-7 0-0 2, Passos Alves da Silva 3-3 1-3 7, Pinheiro 1-5 0-2 2, Carvalho 0 0-0 0, Uriarte 1-1 0-2 2. Totals 27-64 11-18 68.

NORTHERN COLORADO (8-10, 1-6)

West 7-9 0-1 14, Gamble 6-15 0-0 13, Hall 4-8 2-4 10, Fields 3-13 2-2 9, Nativi 1-4 2-2 4, Van Weelden 1-4 0-0 3, George 1-3 0-0 2, Saleh 1-2 0-0 2, Riley 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 24-60 6-9 57.

Idaho 18 16 14 20—68

Northern Colo. 12 12 15 18—57

3-point goals — Idaho 3-13 (Nelson 3-4, Hassmann 0-2, Aadland 0-2, Brans 0-2, Bukvic 0-2, Pinheiro 0-1). NC 3-9 (Gamble 1-3, Fields 1-3, Van Weelden 1-1, Riley 0-2). Rebounds — Idaho 41 (Nelson 8), NC 38 (West 10). Assists — Idaho 13 (Hassman 3), NC 12 (West, Fields 3). Total Fouls — NC 22, Idaho 13. Attendance — 616.

Portland 83, Washington State 65

PULLMAN — The Cougars hung close through the first half, but watched visiting Portland pull away late in a West Coast Conference defeat at Beasley Coliseum.

Eleonora Villa led WSU 12-9, 7-3) in scoring with 13 points. Candace Kpetikou added a career-high 12 points along with six rebounds off the bench. Tara Wallack recorded 10 points, six rebounds and two assists.

Emme Shearer of Portland (18-3, 7-3) shot 7-for-14 from the field and 7-for-8 from the foul line to lead all scorers at 24 points.

PORTLAND (18-3, 7-3)

Shearer 7-14 7-8 24, Mark 6-9 6-8 21, Hull 6-11 3-3 18, Meek 2-4 0-0 6, Burnham 1-7 4-4 6, Mogel 2-7 0-0 4, Spear 1-1 0-0 2, Fraley 1-3 0-0 2. Totals 26-56 20-23 83.

WASHINGTON ST. (12-9, 7-3)

E. Villa 5-12 1-2 13, Wallack 4-10 2-3 10, Covill 1-3 3-6 5, Tuhina 1-6 0-0 2, J. Villa 0-1 1-2 1, Kpetikou 4-6 4-5 12, Gardner 4-7 0-0 9, Mendes 2-5 4-4 8, Abraham 1-3 2-2 5, Alsina 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 22-54 17-24 65.

Portland 20 14 25 24—83

Washington St. 13 16 21 15—65

3-point goals — Portland 4-14 (E. Villa 2-3, Gardner 1-3, Abraham 1-2, Wallack 0-2, Tuhina 0-2, J. Villa 0-1, Mendes 0-1), WSU 11-23 (Shearer 3-6, Hull 3-5, Mark 3-4, Meek 2-3, Burnham 0-2, Mogel 0-2, Fraley 0-1). Rebounds — Portland 37 (Mark 12), WSU 31 (Wallack 6). Assists — Portland 19 (Meek 7), WSU 13 (Tuhina 4). Total fouls — Portland 17, WSU 23. Attendance — 1,015.

VOLLEYBALL

Kriskova to lead Vandals

Idaho Director of Athletics Terry Gawlik has announced the appointment of Romana Redondo Krišková to head the Vandal volleyball program, removing the interim coach tag that she carried for the 2024 season.

Having previously played for the University of Wisconsin and Virginia Commonwealth, Kriskova competed and coached at a professional level overseas before joining the Vandal staff as an assistant coach in 2023.

“She is a hard worker, resilient, intentional yet patient, and is respected in the volleyball community,” Gawlik said of Kriskova. “As a young coach, one of her greatest assets is not being afraid to reach out for help and advice. I look forward to working with her and her staff to rebuild the program.”