Feb. 18, 2006
Box Score
Cheney, WA--Four Bengals scored in double figures, including a game-high 22 points from Natalie Doma as Idaho State won its fourth straight and completed a road sweep with a 74-65 win over Eastern Washington Saturday afternoon at Reese Court in Cheney, Washington.
The win pushes Idaho State to 14-11 overall, 8-3 in Big Sky play. The Bengals are now just a half game behind Northern Arizona for first place. NAU plays host to Montana tonight in Flagstaff. Eastern Washington falls to 10-13 overall, 4-6 in league play.
The win gives ISU a road sweep of Portland State and Eastern Washington for the first time since the 2003-04 season.
After shooting just 33 percent in the first half, Idaho State went into the break trailing 32-42. Trailing by 11 points just four minutes into the second, Idaho State's Doma connected on a shot beyond the arc, sparking a 13-1 run, capped off by a couple of Andrea Lightfoot treys.
Eastern rallied to tied the game for the seventh time, 58-58, with just over five minutes to play, but ISU countered with a 13-2 run over the next four minutes to give the Bengals a 71-60 lead with under two minutes to go, helping to secure ISU's fourth straight win.
"The first half was Montana all over again," said ISU head coach Jon Newlee. "It was one of our worst efforts of the season. We were lucky to go into the half only down by 10. The second half was a different story. I knew if we could just hang tough and get things reset at halftime that we would have a shot at the win. We came out with more energy, more focus, and more heart in the second half."
Doma paced the Bengals with 22 points on 7-of-18 shooting, including a 2-of-3 mark from long range. She also connected on 6-of-7 shots from the free throw line. Lightfoot recorded 21 points on 7-of-15 shots from the field. The sophomore guard also went 3-of-4 from three, and recorded a perfect 4-of-4 clip at the charity stripe.
Joanna Hixon tallied her second straight double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Hixon grabbed eight of her 10 rebounds and 13 of her 15 points in the second half. The junior post connected on 2-of-2 shots from beyond the arc, and was 5-of-8 from the free throw line. Jeni Boesel also reached double digits with 13 points. The junior guard also dished out seven assists and pulled down five boards. She hit 5-of-10 shots from the field, including a 3-of-5 mark from three.
Danica Boyce, who went down early in the second half with a possible concussion, finished with three points, but played a big defensive role in the contest.
As a team, ISU connected on 11-of-20 shots from beyond the arc--the seventh time this season that the team has collected 10 or more threes in a single game.
The Bengals held Eastern Washington to just 28 percent shooting in the second half. The Eagles shot a 56 percent clip in the first half. The Bengals finished the game shooting 40 percent from the field and 55 percent from three.
Leah Gonnella and Brittney Osborn led EWU with 11 points each. Jamie Chicane, Felice Moore, and Julie Page each added 10 for the Eagles.
The Bengals now close out the season with three at home, starting with Weber State (12-12, 6-5) on Thursday at 7:05 p.m.
