Dec. 29, 2003
Stats
Irvine, CA--Christa Brossman led all scorers with 26 points and the Idaho State Bengals erased an eight-point second half deficit to record a 75-66 victory over the Anteaters of the University of California-Irvine in women's basketball action Monday night at the Brent Events Center.
After taking the lead into the locker room the Bengals faltered. Led by Christina Calloway and Kristen Green the Anteaters rallied to take an eight-point lead at 50-42. But Brossman, who scored 21 of her 26 points in the second half got hot. She hit three three-pointers in the final 10 minutes and Annie Anderson's layup with 6:20 left in the game gave the Bengals their first lead since early in the second half at 62-60. Two possessions later Molly Hays gave the Bengals a 66-62 lead with a layup with 4:05 left in the game. ISU never trailed after that.
"I basically told her (Brossman) at the half that she needed to pick it up and she responded nicely," ISU Head Coach Jon Newlee said. "I told the players after the game that our bench really saved us tonight. Annie Anderson, Camile Christensen and Merrilee Udy really gave us a lift tonight."
"They (the Bengals) have big hearts. They dug deep and got back into the game when they could have let it slip away."
Anderson came off the bench to score 15 points and pulled down 10 rebounds to post her first double-double of the season in just her second game. The double-double was the third of her career. Also scoring in double figures for ISU was Heidi Gifford, who had 10 points and three rebounds. As a team the Bengals shot 58.2 percent from the field (32-55), including 7-of-18 from three-point range. The ISU bench outscored UCI 24-7.
The Anteaters started the game red hot, hitting on nine of their first 12 shots, while forcing six ISU turnovers to take a 22-6 lead in the first 10 minutes of the game. However ISU responded with a furious scoring outburst to get back into the game. Over the next four minutes the Bengals outscored UCI 23-4 to take their first lead of the game at 29-26. Camile Christensen's turnaround jumper with just over six minutes left game the Bengals the lead. After committing six turnovers in the first 10 minutes of the game ISU committed just two over the next 10 and took a 31-30 lead into the locker room at the half.
With the win the Bengals broke a two-game losing streak and improved to 6-3 on the season. That win total ties the total from the entire 2002-03 season. UC-Irvine fell to 1-7 on the campaign. ISU will return to action on Wednesday when they travel to Fullerton, CA, to face Cal State Fullerton at 3:00 p.m.
