Idaho women clinch Big Sky championship after beating Northern Colorado 55-41

MOSCOW, Idaho – The University of Idaho women had a memorable senior day. They cut down the nets as conference champions.

Idaho extended a 35-31 lead after three quarters to a 55-41 win over Big Sky Conference third-place Northern Colorado and celebrated a Big Sky Conference regular-season championship at ICCU Arena. Idaho has one game remaining against Eastern Washington on Monday. But at 25-5 and 16-1, Idaho’s advantage cannot be overtaken. It is the Vandals’ first Big Sky title since 2018-19.

Idaho came into senior day on fumes after defeating Northern Arizona on Thursday, 85-57, in Flagstaff, Arizona. It was Idaho’s 13th straight win.

“We knew it was going to look ugly, especially after playing at NAU and traveling,” Debora dos Santos said.

Dos Santos led Idaho with 11 rebounds.

“We got the job done, and I am really, really proud of everybody,” she said.

Vandals coach Arthur Moreira acknowledged the game was “really ugly.”

“We set basketball back about 40 years,” he said.

Idaho shot just 17 of 64, good for 26%, and 2 of 25 on 3-pointers.

“We knew this was going to be about toughness and rebounding,” Moreira said.

But championship trophies don’t recognize ugly, only winning. Idaho held a meager 35-31 lead after the third quarter but resolutely pulled away in the fourth quarter, despite hitting just 6 of 16 shots from the floor.

The Vandals’ salvation was free-throw shooting. They hit 19 of 25 chances while UNC could manage just 9 of 11. Moreira also pointed out that with the dismal shooting “we knew we had to turn them over today.”

Idaho harried the Bears into 23 turnovers while committing just 10.

Hope Hassmann led Idaho with 12 points. Ana Pinheiro added 11 and Kyra Gardner scored 10.

The game was characterized by “toughness and grit,” Hassmann said. “At the end of the day it was just our will to win.”

Idaho’s last loss was Jan. 10 at Montana State, 99-66. Since then, the Vandals refocused to go unbeaten.

“As we went into this win streak, we realized we had a group that has what it takes,” Moreira said. “We will celebrate today. But tomorrow we go back to work. Eastern is pretty good.”

Men

Northern Colorado 76, Idaho 67: Quinn Denker played a season at Idaho in 2023-24 before transferring to Northern Colorado, and during Saturday’s game he caught fire, leading all scorers with 33 points on 10 of 16 shooting, including 4 of 5 from 3-point range. He also converted 9 of 11 free throws as the Bears overtook Idaho in the second half to win.

While UNC roamed the frontcourt through the early first half with good spacing and moved the ball with quick, snappy passing, the physically aggressive Vandals were able to clog the Bears’ offensive movement with about eight minutes to play. The Vandals broke a 20-20 tie on Isaiah Brickner’s basket and went on an 11-3 run over the next 3:10.

Idaho held a 40-33 lead at the half. But it began to drift away from its strong interior game, according to Vandals coach Alex Pribble, and the shooting fell off dramatically. For the second half, Idaho shot just 10 of 39 (25.6%), and during one stretch the Vandals put up shots on six straight possessions without converting, and four of them never touched iron.

“We punished them in the paint early in the game. Then we began to settle for not great shots,” Pribble said.

The Vandals owned the offensive glass, outrebounding UNC 18-6 and 43-38 on total rebounds. They also outscored the Bears in the paint 34-20 and 15-0 on second-chance points.

“We were the more physical team tonight. It is a hard pill to swallow when you lose on your home floor and you were the more physical team,” Pribble said.

Idaho still had the score within 5 points, 66-61, with 3:29 to play. But it could get no closer.

“We played 25 minutes of good basketball,” Pribble said. “That is not enough to beat a good team.”

Brickner and Jackson Rasmussen scored 15 apiece to lead the Vandals, and Biko Johnson added 10.

Brock Wisne was Northern Colorado’s only other double-figure scorer with 15 points. The Bears are now 19-11, 9-8.

The Vandals are 16-14, 8-9 in the Big Sky with one game remaining against EWU (13-17, 11-6) on Monday in Cheney.