March 12, 2009
Final Stats
Complete Sacramento State Box Score 
Missoula, MT-Oana Iacovita hit the game winning shot with .6 seconds left to give Idaho State a 78-76 overtime victory over Sacramento State in at the Dahlberg Arena Thursday night to advance to the semifinal round of the Big Sky Conference Tournament. In a back-and-forth match up that saw 18 lead changes and 11 tied scores the Bengals won their first overtime game in a Big Sky Tournament game in program history.
"I'm proud of our team," said head coach Seton Sobolewski. "We played hard and didn't get down. We played hard and found a way to win."
Four Bengals scored in double-figures with senior Jenna Brown leading Idaho State with 23 points. She was 8-of-13 from the field and 6-of-10 from the line. Sacramento State's Charday Hunt tied Brown at 23 points. Michelle Grohs posted 19 points and a double-double with 10 rebounds for Idaho State. Sheila Adams chipped in a career-high 16 points and Iacovita posted 15 with her game-winning shot.
Freshman Adams had the best game of her career as she did not miss a single shot in the contest hitting 6-of-6 from the field and 4-of-4 from the trey. She scored 14 of her career-high 16 points in the first half alone. She was the only Bengal in double-figures going into the break while Sacramento State spread the scoring with three in double-figures.
"She hit four threes and it gave us a ton of momentum and we stayed even with them (Sacramento State) in the first half," said guard Brown of Adams contribution in the contest. "She poked away a lot of balls. I know that doesn't show up on the stat sheet. We know it happened. It helped us out. It's great when everyone comes to play.''
Adams scored Idaho State's first six points off two treys hitting 2-of-2, but Atty Boyer was equally as strong on the inside making three layups on three attempts. The Bengals and Hornets exchanged shots until Erika Edwards hit three treys in three minutes to help Sacramento State take a five point lead at 25-20 in the first half.
The Bengals would creep up on the Hornets but without a stop Sacramento State would hold a slight lead throughout the first half as both teams were hitting above 50 percent with under eight minutes remaining. The Bengals would tie up the score three times before the break.
Three point shots would be the Bengals savior as they hit six treys from nine attempts for 66.7 percent accuracy. It was senior Brown's uncontested three on the left wing that tied up the scoreboard 27-27. Erika Edwards and Atty Boyer would hit jump shots to take a 31-29 lead. The Bengals would tie it back up as senior Grohs would hit two free throws, then junior Iacovita would drive to the basket as the shot clock winded down and hit the layup to bring it back to 31-31 on the scoreboard.
Idaho State would put on the pressure defensively reducing the Hornets to 47.1 percent from the field. Though the Bengals would exchange shots with Charday Hunt Idaho State would hit two threes from Adams and Grohs while Hunt posted two layups on the inside. With Grohs' three Idaho State took a two point lead, 37-35, but Boyer would make a layup in the final six seconds to send the teams to the locker room tied at 37 each.
"Hats off to Dan and Sacramento State. They played hard," said Sobolewski. "They made some great adjustments against us tonight. They had us off balance in terms of posting up Hunt and doing things differently defensively."
The start of the second half was an exchange of threes in back-to-back possessions as Hunt would hit the trey first, followed by forward Iacovita, then Edwards, followed by Grohs hitting a layup and drawing the foul to sink the free throw to complete the shot tying the score back up at 43-43.
Adams would have two steals at the start of the second half to give ISU the opportunity to take a three point lead at 50-47. Offensive boards kept the Hornets tight with the Bengals as they pulled down three o-boards in a single possession. Idaho State was outrebounded on the offensive boards 16 to 5 for the night.
Idaho State would go on a 7-3 run capped by a Brown layup to take a 63-58 lead. Hunt would reduce the largest Bengal lead of five at the 6:53 mark back down to three as she hit two free throws. The Bengals showed considerable hustle diving to the floor for loose balls left and right. The hustle increased Idaho State's points off turnovers to 13 points.
A reverse layup by Edwards gave Sacramento State a brief one point lead, but Grohs would swing it back for the Bengals with a jumper. However, the Hornets would respond with a Hunt jumper off the left wing for a 66-65 lead in Sacramento State's favor.
Tika Koshiyama-Diaz would run for a layup in the final minute, but Brown would return with a layup of her own reducing the Sacramento State lead to one-point as the Hornets were up 68-67. With the Bengals forced to foul with 18.7 seconds remaining, Koshiyama-Diaz took the line hitting the first half of her one-and-one attempt. Iacovita would pull down the rebound and dish it out to Brown who would drive to the basket hitting a crucial layup in the final 3.4 seconds of play sending the Bengals into overtime, Idaho State's first overtime Big Sky Conference game in school history.
Hunt who remained perfect from the line for the game hitting 8-of-8, posted the first two-points of the overtime period. The Hornets posted two stops and a jumper by Boyer gave Sacramento State a four-point lead at 73-69. A lane violation from Boyer would turn the ball over to the Bengals where Brown was able to drive to the basket, but she would not complete for three points as she drew the foul.
Grohs would go on to draw a foul under the basket sinking both shots in the one-and-one situation to tie up the score at 73-73 with 1:46 remaining. The Bengals would post heavy defense forcing the Hornets into a shot clock violation. Brown would go on to draw a foul from Koshiyama-Diaz hitting both free throws to take a two point lead. On the next Hornet possession Hunt attempted to make a pass across the bottom of the key but Verity Peets stole it away to give the Bengals momentum.
Peets passed the ball to Diehl who would dribble up the right side of the court and would draw a foul from Sami Field-Polisso on the sideline. Diehl would increase the lead hitting the first end of her shots at the line, but Koshiyama-Diaz would send a shrill up the Bengals spine hitting a deep three nearly five feet from the arc with 19 seconds remaining to tie it up 76-76. Then with .6 seconds left on the clock Iacovita would hit the game winning jumper from the left wing to give the Bengals a 78-76 victory.
Sacramento State had four players in double-figures with Hunt scoring 23 points. Boyer posted a double-double with 18 points and 13 rebounds hitting 9-of-16 from the field. Edwards recorded 16 points and Koshiyama-Diaz chipped in 10 points.
Idaho State will play Montana in the semifinal game of the Big Sky Conference Tournament at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, March 13 at the Dahlberg Arena.
Notes: Idaho State shot 51.9 percent from the field and 61.5 percent from the arc for the game ... Idaho State hit 66.7 percent from the arc in both halves ... Idaho State played the first overtime game in a Big Sky Tournament contest since the 2002 61-54 Montana State victory over Montana in Ogden, UT ... Idaho State remains perfect against Sacramento State for an all-time record of 27-0.
