Jan. 15, 2005
Box Score
Pocatello, ID--Despite an impressive rally in the second half, Idaho State dropped its first Big Sky Conference game of the season, 76-69, to Northern Arizona Saturday at Reed Gym. Natalie Doma tallied a team-high 17 points and Camile Michaelson netted 15 in the loss.
With the loss, Idaho State falls to 6-9 overall, 1-1 in Big Sky play. NAU improves to 10-5, while improving its league record to 1-1.
The Lumberjacks couldn't miss early as the team went 5-of-5 from beyond, opening up a 15-4 lead in the first three minutes of the game. NAU continued its impressive shooting, improving its lead to 18 points, 22-4, with 14:12 remaining in the first half.
"They were on fire," said ISU head coach Jon Newlee. "They just wouldn't miss from three. Part of it was our defense. We didn't roll out on the shooter. We also didn't expect there post players to shoot that well from out there. We were not prepared for that."
Despite the 18 point lead early in the first half, Idaho State rallied to cut the lead to nine, 40-31 at halftime. It was more of the same to start the second half as Northern Arizona improved its lead to 14, 52-38 at the 15 minute mark. Idaho State then turned on its offense, outscoring the Lumberjacks 24-10 over the next seven minutes to tie the game, 62-62, with 7:46 left to play.
Idaho State was only able to put up seven points to NAU's 14 over the final seven minutes as Northern Arizona took the win.
"We just didn't play well to start the game, and we didn't play well to finish the game," Newlee said. "I thought we did do a good job of battling back when our backs were against the wall, but we didn't keep the momentum going our way."
Alyssa Wahl led the Lumberjacks with a game-high 29 points, connecting on 11-of-20 shots from the field, including a perfect 3-of-3 from beyond the arc. Four others scored in double figures for NAU.
"We didn't expect (Alyssa) Wahl to do what she did today," Newlee said. "I've never seen her play that well in person or on film before. We didn't expect her to hit the threes the way she did."
Doma scored her 17 points on 6-of-12 shots from the field. She hit 5-of-6 shots from the free throw line. Doma also recorded seven rebounds on the day. Michaelson tallied her 15 points on 5-of-10 shots from the field, 2-of-2 from three. Molly Hays also scored double figures for the Bengals, recording 13 points. Hays came up just one rebound shy of a double-double with nine.
As a team, Idaho State shot 45 percent from the floor, 36 percent from beyond the arc, and 85 percent from the free throw line. NAU shot 57 percent from the floor, 64 percent from three, and 69 percent from the charity stripe.
Idaho State now sets out on its first Big Sky road trip of the season, traveling the Eastern Washington and Portland State next Thursday and Saturday, respectively. The Bengals return home to host Weber State on Jan. 29.
# GO BENGALS #
