Nov. 25, 2005
Box Score
Honolulu, HI--Idaho State trailed by just five points to Big Ten foe Wisconsin with three minutes remaining in the game, but couldn't get any closer as the Badgers defeated the Bengals 85-73 in the first game of the Hawaiian Airlines Rainbow Wahine Classic.
"This is a game we could have won," said Idaho State head coach Jon Newlee. "If we hit our free throws, rebound a little better, and don't miss some easy shots under the basket, we could have had a chance."
With the loss, Idaho State falls to 0-2 overall on the season, while Wisconsin improves to 3-0.
Wisconsin built an early 14 point lead in the first 10 minutes of the game, and then extended it to as many as 18 points, 35-17, with six minutes left in the first half. Trailing by 16 points, 37-21, Idaho State went on a 12-0 run to cut the lead to four points, 37-33. The Badgers then connected on two quick buckets in the final minute to take the 41-33 lead into halftime.
"We lost this game in the first 10 minutes," Newlee said. "We came out timid, and got into some early foul trouble. Both of our starting post players were on the bench, and with Danica (Boyce) not available, we were very thin and had to go small."
Trailing 74-62 with 5:28 remaining in the game, Idaho State used a 9-2 run to cut the lead to five points, 76-71. Returning Big Ten Freshman of the Year Jolene Anderson then hit a shot from beyond the arc that sparked a 9-2 run to close the game for Wisconsin.
Natalie Doma led the Bengals with a team-high 17 points, connecting on 6-of-13 shots from the field. The sophomore center also notched five rebounds in 25 minutes of play. Andrea Lightfoot played all 40 minutes, collecting 16 points, four assists, four steals, and two rebounds.
Jeni Boesel, who helped the Bengals stay in the game with 11 first half points, finished with 13. Boesel also picked up three steals and four rebounds. Joanna Hixon reached double digits with 12 points.
Chelsey Chambers, who played limited minutes because of foul trouble, led ISU with a team-high nine rebounds to go along with eight points.
As a team, Idaho State connected on 39.4 percent of its shots from the field, 31 percent from beyond the arc, and 62.5 percent from the charity stripe. ISU committed 20 turnovers, but forced Wisconsin into 21 turnovers on 11 steals. UW out-rebounded Idaho State 51-33.
Wisconsin shot 48 percent from the field and 78 percent from the free throw line. The Bengals held UW to just 25 percent from beyond the arc.
Janese Banks led Wisconsin with a game-high 25 points, while Anderson added 21 points. The Badgers had two others reach double figure scoring.
Idaho State now moves on to face Washington State. The Bengals will tip-off at 1:30 p.m. mountain time on Saturday, Nov. 26.
"We'll learn from this game and move on to the next one," Newlee said. "If nothing else, this game proves to our team that we can go into a game against a Big-Ten caliber opponent and have a chance to win. This should give our players a lot of confidence with how close we were against Wisconsin."
