Idaho men’s basketball loses; Idaho State women’s basketball wins in Big Sky Tourney

Corey Baldwin and Geno Crandall scored 16 points apiece, and North Dakota beat Idaho 69-64 Friday night in a Big Sky Conference Tournament semifinal.

Top-seeded North Dakota (21-9) has won nine of its last 10 games and will play third-seeded Weber State in Saturday’s championship. No. 4 seed Idaho (18-13) had its five-game win streak snapped.

The Vandals used a 12-1 run to tie it at 63 with 2:08 to play. Crandall made two free throws and Baldwin’s 3 gave the Fighting Hawks a 68-63 lead with 1:04 to play. The Vandals missed 4 of 5 from the line and two 3-pointers to end it.

Quinton Hooker and Conner Avants each added 13 points for North Dakota.

Victor Sanders scored 20 points to lead Idaho. Brayon Blake added 10 points and Nate Sherwood grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds.

IDAHO STATE WOMEN’S BASKETBALL: Bianca Thacker scored a career-high 18 points, Estefania Ors added 15 points and Idaho State beat Portland State 54-50, earning a place in the Big Sky Tournament finals for the second straight year.

The win gave Idaho State (19-13) head coach Seton Sobolewski 150 career wins.

“Well, I thought we shot the ball really well,” Sobolewski said. “Bianca Thacker did a great job, hitting four threes, and then Estefania Ors did a great job shooting the ball against the zone. They weren’t really giving us much inside the three point line, so thank goodness we hit some of those shots.”

Idaho State held Portland State (16-17) to 34 percent shooting from the floor.

The Bengals play Montana State at 1 p.m. Saturday in the Big Sky championship game.

Idaho State has been to the NCAA Tournament three times (2001, ’07, ’12). The Bengals lost the Big Sky championship game to Idaho last season.

This story was originally published March 11, 2017 at 12:12 AM with the headline "Idaho men’s basketball loses; Idaho State women’s basketball wins in Big Sky Tourney."