Idaho knocks off Big West leader LBSU

The University of Idaho women’s basketball team knocked off Big West Conference leader Long Beach State 70-55 in Moscow, Idaho on Thursday night, marking the Vandals’ first victory over the 49ers since the 2002-03 season.

It was only the second time the 49ers (11-5, 6-2) had lost to the Vandals (11-6, 6-2) in Moscow. LBSU came into the game with a seven-game win streak and falls into second with UI behind UC Santa Barbara.

“Long Beach is a very, very talented team and anytime you make a mistake, they are going to make you pay now,” Idaho head coach Mike Divilbiss said. “They are really athletic and our players really had to play on an edge. We only had 21 percent loss of ball and that is outstanding against a team that pressures the ball and creates so much offense with their defense.”

Long Beach State scored the first bucket of the second half to tie the game at 29-29, however the remainder of the game was all Idaho. A 3-pointer by Emily Faurholt 6 seconds after the score was tied put the 49ers behind for good as the Vandals built an 11-point lead on a Stephanie Sax 3-pointer with 8 minutes remaining, and stretched that lead to as many as 21 with 2:01 remaining.

The Vandals led 70-49 at that point before the 49ers closed the game with six points to bring the final margin to 15 points.

Faurholt led all scorers with 26 points, Leilani Mitchell finished with 19 points, and Jessica Summers earned her second double-double of the season with 11 points and 14 rebounds. Mitchell also added six rebounds, four steals and three assists.

Wrestling

Montana State-Northern, the No. 2-ranked team in the NAIA, scored a 28-14 over North Idaho College, the nation’s top-ranked junior college, at Havre, Mont., Thursday night.

NIC got victories from Jeff Hedges (125), Justin Pearch (141), Kyle Frawley (174) and Evan Mattingly (197), but had not pins. Meanwhile, the Northern Lights scored came up with three falls.