Dec. 6, 2003
Stats
Box Score
Pocatello, ID -- Freshman Molly Hays led four Bengals in double figures as Idaho State University won its third straight game, 95-61, over the University of Denver in women's basketball action Friday night at Reed Gymnasium.
Hays, a native of Missoula, MT, scored 23 points on 8-of-12 shooting from the field. She also pulled down 12 rebounds for her fourth double-double in the early going this season. Christa Brossman had her second straight strong game with 17 points, including three three-pointers. Heidi Gifford had 14 points and four rebounds, while Camile Christensen came off the bench to score 11 points, her first double-digit scoring night as a Bengal.
"Molly finished inside, stepped out and hit the jumpers from the outside, was very active on the glass and had great anticipation," ISU Coach Jon Newlee said. "She played great defense on their taller post players."
The Bengals came out of the gates playing suffocating defense. ISU didn't allow a field goal to Denver until Tasha Jones three-pointer at the 14:01 mark of the first half. They didn't allow the Pioneers to break into double-digits until just 6:45 remained in the first half. In the interim the Bengals had build a lead as high as 26 points (35-9). In the first half ISU shot 60.0% from the field (18-30), while Denver hit on just 28.9% of its shots (11-38). The Bengals settled for a 52-27 lead at the break. ISU had 22 assists against just 12 turnovers in the game, while holding Denver to just 12 assists. For the fifth time in six games this season the Bengals topped the 90-point mark in a game.
"We're not looking at how many points we score, just how we run our offense," Newlee said. "Our assist-to-turnover ratio is important to the players. The amazing thing is how unselfish they are. We have players passing up on good shots because they're looking for the great shot."
Denver came out of the gates strong to start the second half, outscoring the Bengals 9-2 over the first three-minutes to cut the ISU lead to just 54-36. But Hays scored two points and Monika Marekova scored on a layup to key a 6-2 run that put the ISU lead back over 20. The lead would expand to as much as 34 points twice, including the final margin.
Despite a notable height advantage in the post Denver was outrebounded by a 51-35 mark in the game. ISU also outscored the Pioneers 16-8 in the paint.
With the win the Bengals are off to their best six-game start in school history at 5-1. Only the 1997-98 and 1989-90 squads have started the season with a 5-1 record prior to this season. For the second time this season the Bengals handed a team its first loss of the season after an undefeated start. Denver is now 3-1. ISU might have an opportunity to hand another team its first loss on Saturday, December 13 in Moscow, ID, when the Bengals taken on the 5-0 University of Idaho Vandals.
