Jan. 3, 2008
Final Stats
Pocatello, ID --- The Idaho State Bengals never trailed and all eligible players saw the floor as the Bengals begin Big Sky play with an 86-66 win over Northern Colorado Thursday night at Reed Gym. Idaho State led by as much as 32 before closing out the 20 point victory. National player of the year candidate Natalie Doma was efficient shooting 9-13 from the field for her 26 points. She also collected 12 rebounds for her 12th double-double of the season. Andrea Lightfoot added 14 points and dished out a season-high six assists.
The small four-guard lineup of Northern Colorado could not slow down Doma down low. All nine of her field goals came inside the paint. Only two of her 13 shot attempts came outside the key. "It was open so I just took it. Luckily the shots just fell." She also got the line ten times, making good for eight free throws.
It was the conference openers for both teams, so Idaho State started off 1-0 in Big Sky, 9-4 overall. Northern Colorado was off to a 0-1 conference start and 6-8 overall.
The game was just what the head coach Jon Newlee was looking for. "As a way to start the Big Sky conference it's what you want; a big win at home." Sophomore guard Jenna Brown added, "Were a team that feeds off of momentum so to get the first conference win and to get everybody in the game was huge for us."
Only Andrea Videbeck, who sat because of an ankle injury, did not get into the game. Newlee was happy for the chance to get his bench involved. "Everybody's feeling good. You get a game where everybody gets in the game. That pumps everybody up." The Bengals got 23 points from their bench. Bianca Cheever scored nine points and Kaylynn Fager chipped in eight.
The Bengals will now have a week to prepare for their next contest when they travel to Eastern Washington on Thursday, January 10th. That will be followed by a trip up to Portland State on Saturday, January 12th. Idaho State returns to Reed Gym January 17th when they host rival Montana.
Notes: The 23 bench points were the most for the Bengals this season since they put up 42 points against Montana Tech... Natalie Doma (1,856) passed Lidya Varbanova (1,834) of Boise State to become the second leading scorer in Big Sky history... ISU is 5-0 all-time against Northern Colorado... Michelle Grohs has recorded a blocked shot in five consecutive games. She has three blocks in each of her last two games.
