RENO, Nevada — The Vandals came to Reno with an affinity for the Silver State and a singular mission: return to the Big Dance. Christina Salvatore and Ali Forde experienced March Madness each of their first two seasons at Idaho but the disappointment of a junior season without a postseason drove the UI seniors.
While the veteran duo led the Vandals back to the NCAA Tournament, it was a freshman in her first college postseason that made all the difference for Idaho.
Forde dominated the paint on both sides of the court all week long. Salvatore hit timely shots, including a pair of daggers down the stretch in the championship game. And Mikayla Ferenz, a precocious freshman from Walla Walla, Washington ripped the nets at the Reno Special Events Center like no one in Big Sky Conference Tournament history to help the Vandals go dancing once again.
Ferenz poured in a BSC tournament record 16 3-pointers and averaged 22.3 points per game as Idaho rolled to three straight victories, its first Big Sky Tournament title since returning to the league and a third trip to the NCAA Tournament in four seasons. Salvatore hit three momentum-changing 3-pointers, Forde just missed a triple-double and Ferenz poured in four 3-pointers and scored 18 points to pace Idaho to a 67-55 victory over Idaho State here on Saturday afternoon.
“My girls dug deep, man,” said Idaho head coach Jon Newlee, a freshly cut net draped around his neck and his shirt still dripping from his celebratory Gatorade bath. “They refused to lose. Our seniors, they’ve been through it and they know what it takes. And then you got a freshman with ice waters in her veins contributing. Fantastic all-around team effort.”
As the final seconds counted down, Idaho forced ISU’s 13th turnover as Forde notched her seventh steal of the second half and her eighth of the game. She passed to Salvatore, who then threw the ball up the court to Ferenz. The ball touched Idaho’s two leaders and ended in the hands of the tournament MVP, a fitting ending to a sensational Big Sky run.
“We wouldn’t be here without any of our seniors,” said Ferenz, who shot 16-of-31 from deep and 22-of-40 from the field in scoring 67 points in three games. “They are such great leaders. I couldn’t have asked for a better freshman year. Coming into this, they said nothing feels better than winning the conference tournament. It’s true.”
Idaho struggled to control the tempo in the early going against the ultra-physical Bengals as ISU took a 26-23 lead into halftime. But Salvatore kept the action close by hitting a pair of second quarter 3-pointers to keep the gap manageable.
Out of the locker room, Ferenz hit a 3-pointer and converted a layup in the first minute of the half to spark a 17-2 Idaho run to create separation. Led by Forde’s eight steals, four blocks and 13 rebounds, the Vandals used a smothering defense of their own to hold ISU to 10 points in the first 16 minutes of the second half. Salvatore hit a 3-pointer and a step-back jump shot on consecutive possessions to extend UI’s lead to 53-36 with 3:44 left, the largest of the night.
“Ali Forde did a really good job defensively for them,” ISU senior center Anna Policicchio said. “She made some big plays, some steals at the beginning of the third. That discouraged us but we came back. She made a big difference for them. She came ready to play.”
Idaho posted three tournament wins in Las Vegas each of its last two seasons in the Western Athletic Conference to make back-to-back trips to the NCAA Tournament. Last season, their first season back in the Big Sky since leaving the league in 1996, Idaho struggled to transition to the Big Sky’s style, missing the Big Sky Tournament all together. This season, UI stayed the course and followed its seniors in earning one last chance for Salvatore, Forde and classmates Connie Ballestero, Tayla Corrigan and Renae Mokrzycki to participate in March Madness.
“When I came on my visit to Moscow, (Newlee) told us we were going to win championships. He straight up told us that and that’s what we came to do,” said Forde, who also added 12 points, missing a triple-double by two steals and four assists and earned All-Tournament honors. “When I came on my visit, I loved all these girls and that’s what our basketball team really is. We are like a family.
“Three out of four feels pretty good.”
The championship game loss ends Idaho State’s Cinderella week. The ninth-seeded Bengals would not have advanced to the tournament under the former eight-team format. But the league expanded the field to include all 12 women’s and men’s teams and moved the tournament to a neutral site.
Juliet Jones hit a 27-foot 3-pointer at the buzzer to help ISU take down top-seeded Montana State in the quarterfinals. Idaho State used a smothering defense and tremendous rebounding to outlast fourth-seeded North Dakota for their third win in five days. But the hot shooting of Idaho ended ISU’s season at 18-16.
“We played really hard and had an amazing run,” ISU eighth-year head coach Seton Sobolewski said. “Five games in eight days is tough. We showed a lot of guts and a lot of toughness to make it this far. It caught up with us in the third quarter with our shooting. All the legs are gone at this point with the quick turnaround. I’m very proud of our team and they are amazing representatives of Idaho State and Pocatello and Southeast Idaho. This was an incredible run.”
Idaho State missed 17 of its first 20 shots of the second half and could never find a rhythm before a late 3-point barrage that included five 3-pointers in the game’s final two and a half minutes. ISU junior Brooke Blair averaged 13.7 during ISU’s three wins but finished 1-of-9 before fouling out in the final. She earned All-Tournament honors alongside Policicchio, who scored 15 points, grabbed six rebounds and blocked three shots on Saturday.
“It sucks to lose in the championship game because you are so close, but I’ve enjoyed every moment of it,” Policicchio said. “It’s been a great senior season and I couldn’t be more thankful.”
Following Idaho’s semifinal win over Eastern Washington, Newlee said he hoped for a “clean” championship game that did not turn into a “WWF match” like Idaho State’s previous three tournament wins. During Saturday’s matinee, Idaho State’s small but vocal crowd constantly taunted Newlee, who coached ISU for six successful seasons before leaving for Moscow eight years ago. During the post-game press conference, Newlee responded.
“There was an incident when I was in Pocatello where they were profane, verbally abusing me in Pocatello behind my bench,” said Newlee, who claimed a regular season and tournament Big Sky title as well as earning three WNIT bids in six seasons at ISU. “There was like five guys just cussing me out, my family, my players. It was pathetic. There they were again. It feels really good to stick it to those ignorant people that were behind my bench.
“I have a lot of great friends in Pocatello but there was some ignorant people sitting behind our bench abusing the kids and me. All I did was win there and leave there. They are still bitter eight years later, which is their problem, certainly not mine. I’ve moved on, man. I’m a Vandal, man, I’m a Vandal. Three out of four years, that’s pretty good. People always say is the grass greener. The grass is greener in Moscow.”
As the final buzzer sounded, Idaho celebrated as Newlee held up three fingers with each hand above his head. As Ferenz held the ball, fellow freshman Taylor Pierce — a hero in her own right after drilling a game-winning 3-pointer in overtime to lift Idaho past Weber State — ran to Ferenz and embraced her, a symbol of Idaho’s present and its future.
“This feels fantastic,” Newlee said. “It never gets old. Even the Gatorade bath I got in the locker room, it’s a little chilly right now but I’ll take it any day of the week.”
[/restrict]Photos by Brooks Nuanez. All Rights Reserved.
