March 8, 2008
Final Stats
Pocatello, ID --- Idaho State took care of business and defeated Weber State 81-69 Saturday at Reed Gym to secure the two seed and a first round bye in the Big Sky Conference tournament. On senior day, the Bengals got 32 points and 15 rebounds from Natalie Doma and 17 points from Andrea Lightfoot in their last home game as a Bengal. The Bengals (20-8, 12-4 BSC) will now head to Missoula, Montana for the conference tournament. The Wildcats (12-16, 6-10) are eliminated with the loss and ended their season.
Weber State started the game with an 8-2 run. Then the Bengals settled in and exploded for a 25-5 run take control of the game. Doma lead the charge by scoring 12 of the Bengals 25 points in that run. With 8:16 remaining in the first half, she alone had outscored Weber State 14-13. The Wildcats never got closer than four points after that run.
Idaho State also got productive minutes from Devin Diehl who scored nine points off the bench. Jenna Brown also scored nine points and also passed out five assists. Michelle Grohs and Oana Iacovita were the only other Bengals to score. They had seven points each. Iacovita also had a career-high three blocked shots. The win put Idaho State at 12-4 in conference play. That is the best conference record for Idaho State in the Jon Newlee era.
Before the game, seniors Doma, Lightfoot, and Kaylynn Fager were honored and presented a plaque with their jersey framed in it. During the game, Lightfoot passed Mandi Carver for second on Idaho State's all-time scoring list leaving behind only Doma.
Next up is the Big Sky conference tournament where Montana will be the host and the number one seed and Idaho State is the two seed. Both the Grizzlies and the Bengals will get the first round off. Montana State is the third seed and will play sixth seed Northern Arizona. Portland State is the fourth seed and will play fifth seed Northern Colorado. In the semi-finals, the Bengals will play the highest remaining seed.
