Feb. 17, 2005
Box Score
Pocatello, ID--Natalie Doma scored a team-high 16 points and Monika Marekova added 13 as Idaho State cruised to a 73-56 win over Portland State Thursday night at Reed Gym. The win evens ISU's Big Sky Conference record at 5-5, while Portland State falls to 0-9.
After going into halftime with a 37-19 lead, Idaho State extended its lead to 21 points, 53-32, with just 9:47 remaining in the contest. The Bengals, who had to play most of the second half without leading scorer Molly Hays, saw their lead cut to just nine points with 1:35 to go. ISU held on, going on a 10-2 run to close the game and secure the victory.
Hays went down early in the second half with an injury to her ankle and was unable to return to the contest. The sophomore forward tallied eight points and six rebounds in just 23 minutes of play. Hays is expected to play against Eastern Washington on Saturday.
Doma and Marekova picked up the slack, combining for 29 points and 13 rebounds. Doma connected on 5-of-10 shots from the field, 6-of-8 from the charity stripe. Marekova came off the bench, connecting on 4-of-7 shots from the field, 2-of-4 from beyond the arc, and a perfect 3-of-3 from the free throw line for 13 points.
"Monika came in off the bench and made some big baskets for us," said ISU head coach Jon Newlee. "She was active on the offensive boards, and was a nice spark for us. It's something we definitely needed tonight."
Christa Brossman added 12 points for the Bengals. She also tallied four rebounds, two assists, and two steals in the win.
Sharon Wahinekapu led the Vikings with a game-high 19 points on 6-of-12 shooting.
As a team, ISU shot 45 percent from the field and 71 percent from the charity stripe. The Bengals shot just 27 percent from beyond the arc. Portland State connected on 32 percent of its shots from the field and 31 percent from three. ISU committed 14 turnovers to PSU's 13.
"We had some letdowns in this game that we have to limit," Newlee said. "We lost our focus and our intensity. There was a six minute stretch where we were just playing not to lose instead of playing to win. We can't afford those kind of letdowns. Hopefully, we can pick things up and get ready for Eastern Washington on Saturday."
Up next for the Bengals will be a Saturday afternoon matchup with Eastern Washington. Tip-off is scheduled for 2:05 p.m.
