Dec. 2, 2003
Cedar City, UT--Christa Brossman scored a game-high 31 points to lead four Bengals in double figures as Idaho State University won it's second straight game, 98-65, over Southern Utah University in women's basketball action Tuesday night at Centrum Arena.
Brossman, a junior from Pullman, WA, hit on 12-of-23 shots from the field, including 7-of-12 from three point range. At the half Brossman had 25 points, while the homestanding Thunderbirds had just 27. Brossman just missed the ISU single-game record for three-pointers in a game, set earlier this season by Lindy Whitley with nine. The 31 points is a season high for Brossman and ties Whitley for the ISU single-game high this season. Four different Bengals have scored at least 20 points in a game this season.
"She (Brossman) really lit it up in the first half," ISU Head Coach Jon Newlee said. "25 points, that's lighting it up."
Whitley also had a strong game Tuesday night, scoring 17 points, the fifth straight game she has scored in double figures, on 7-of-11 shooting from the field, including 3-6 from three-point range. Freshman center Molly Hays had her third double-double of the young season with 12 points and 11 rebounds. Senior Heidi Gifford had her first double-double of the season with 12 points and 10 rebounds.
"It was nice (Gifford's performance)," Newlee added. "I challenged Heidi to step it up on the boards. I told her that I wanted at least 10 rebounds per game. We need her to get on the glass as well as Hays. Heidi had a very solid game, made the shots and really got on the boards."
As a team the Bengals shot 52.8 percent from the field (38-72), including 50.0 percent from three point range (15-30). Their 15 treys in the game is the second highest single-game total in school history, behind the 17 they hit on against Lewis-Clark State in the season opener. For the season the Bengals are averaging 12.0 three-pointers per game. The 98 points ties for the ninth most in school history and is the fourth time in five games that the Bengals have topped the 90-point mark this season.
Southern Utah came into the game with a perfect 3-0 record, but was never in it as ISU ran out to a 20-5 lead in the first five minutes and led by 25 at the half (52-27). The lead quickly soared to over 30 points early in the second half and was stretched to as much as 39.
With the win the Bengals improve to 4-1 on the season, while the Thunderbirds fell to 3-1. The Bengals will return home for their lone home game of December when they host Denver on Friday at 7:05 p.m. in Reed Gymnasium.
"I know they beat us in Denver last year and they have a lot of players coming back," Newlee said. "They've gotten off to fast start as well and we're looking to have our hands full on Friday night."
