Jan. 19, 2008
Final Stats
Pocatello, ID --- National player of the year candidate Natalie Doma scored a season high 33 points and tied Les Roh as Idaho State's all-time leading scorer, regardless of gender, in the Bengals 85-80 win over Montana State Saturday afternoon at Reed Gym. Doma also grabbed 11 rebounds to become the fourth Big Sky player to record 1,000 career rebounds. The Bengals moved up to 4-1 in Big Sky and 12-5 overall. Montana State slipped down to 3-2 in conference and 8-9 overall.
After leading for most of the game, the Bengals found themselves trailing 78-77 with 1:56 remaining in the game. Doma worked inside and got to the foul line where she hit four straight to push the Bengals up for good. Jenna Brown iced the game by hitting four straight for Idaho State. Once again, Doma did much of her damage at the charity stripe going 15-19.
"Nobody can guard her one on one in this league. They were hacking her like crazy. Good thing she can hit her free throws. If she was Shaq, we'd be in trouble," noted head coach Jon Newlee.
Andrea Lightfoot also moved up in the record books. Her 15 points moved her into third place on Idaho State's all-time scoring list for women. She trails only Doma and Mandi Carver. Brown added 14 points, hitting every shot she took going 3-3 from the field, 2-2 from beyond the arc, and 6-6 from the line. Michelle Grohs had a solid all around effort, scoring eight points, grabbing ten rebounds and passing out six assists.
Bianca Cheever got the start at small forward after Devin Diehl missed shoot around because of the flu. But Coach Newlee turned to Diehl late in the game and she made an impact defensively down the stretch. "She came in played with so much heart and we needed every second she played today. Devin came through just like a champion today," stated Newlee.
Rebecca Mercer led the Bobcats with 29 points.
The Bengals will now hit the road for four straight games beginning with a trip to Northern Arizona on January 24th. That will be followed by stops in Sacramento State, Weber State and Northern Colorado. Idaho State will return to Reed Gym February 14th to host Portland State.
Notes: Michelle Grohs tied a season high with ten rebounds and set a season high with six assists... For the second straight game, two players on the opposing team have fouled out against Idaho State... The Bengals are 3-3 in day games this season.
