Dillon, Mont. – In the first game of the Kyle Erickson era as the Yotes women's basketball head coach saw his alma mater, Montana Western defeat College of Idaho, 83-65 on Thursday.
The 2012 graduate of Montana Western was in his first game as a head coach in the contest.
McKenzie Hirsch led College of Idaho with 15 points, making all five of her shots from the field to go along with a perfect 4-for-4 effort from the free-throw line. Teammate
Kylie Waltermeyer added 11 in the loss.
Despite the loss, College of Idaho was nearly perfect from the free-throw line as they made 17 of 19 attempts for an 89.5% clip which is the fourth best in program history.
The host Bulldogs jumped out to a 12-3 – including the first eight points of the game - in the season opener for the two teams. Later in the quarter, a three pointer by Shainy Mack for three of her 11 points in the first quarter stretched the lead to double digits for the remainder of the contest.
Montana Western (1-0), who like the Yotes are led by a first-year head coach, were paced by a 22-point effort from Mack. She was joined in double figures by Jordan Sweeney (19), Joelnell Momberg (13) and Payton Hagy (11).
Despite the early deficit, College of Idaho closed out the first half on a 12-4 run to cut the deficit to 13, 48-35 with five-different Yotes contributing to the spurt.
To start the second half, a layup by Hirsch made it an 11-point game, 48-37, with 9:09 left in the third quarter. Twice more in the quarter, the Yotes had the deficit down to 11. Eventually in the fourth quarter, College of Idaho had the lead down to 10, 68-58, with 8:24 remaining in the game but Montana Western spoiled the comeback hopes with an 8-2 run over the next three minutes.
Next, it will be a quick turnaround for Erickson and the Yotes, who will face No. 15 Rocky Mountain on Friday at 2 p.m. in Dillon.
