March 14, 2009
Final Stats
Complete Semifinals-Montana Box Score 
Missoula, MT- Idaho State led Montana by 11 points in the first half and would reduce the Griz to a two point lead with 4:55 remaining before the top-seeded Montana would take it away at the line to hand ISU a season ending 70-56 loss at Dahlberg Arena in the semifinals of the Big Sky Conference Tournament on Friday night. Oana Iacovita would lead the Bengals with 22 points and seven rebounds followed by senior Jenna Brown with 15 points.
Seen as the underdog throughout the season, and picked to finish 7th in the preseason poll, the Bengals nearly upset the Griz. Idaho State scored just 39 points total in their last contest with Montana, falling by 34 points, but would hold Griz within two in final 4:55 of the contest. Idaho State finished the season 11-20 and 7-9 in Big Sky play. Montana, 27-4, heads into the championship game against Portland State on Saturday, March 14 at 4:05 p.m.
"I'm extremely proud of our team. I don't know how many people thought we'd be in this situation," said head coach Seton Sobolewski. "When things got bad for us, we had injuries and academic issues, our team showed great character. They stepped up and played hard and tried to compensate for deficiencies the best they could."
The Bengals opened up the game with commanding play taking a 19-8 lead in the first nine minutes of play as Idaho State broke down the Griz defense. Idaho State opened up the low post finding Iacovita for eight uncontested points. Idaho State held Montana to 37.5 percent in the opening minutes while hitting 69.2 percent. Rebounds helped the Bengals as they pulled down eight boards to Montana's six in the Idaho State lead.
However, Montana would not be silenced for long. With a 23-13 lead in favor of Idaho State the Lady Griz went on a 10-0 run to tie it up at 23 each with 7:18 remaining off a Sarah Ena, layup. She would score 14 points for Montana. Idaho State would break Montana of its well-known zone defense for the Grizzlies to regain some control of the contest.
The Griz would continue on for a 12-0 run before Brown would hit a deep three off the right wing before the shot clock wound down to give Idaho State a one-point lead at 26-25 with 5:05 remaining. ISU would hold the lead until Big Sky MVP Mandy Morales, who scored the game-high 25 points, hit a layup on a back door pass from Shaunte Nance-Johnson. Morales would hit 8-of-15 from the field and 8-of-9 form the line as well as a trey for the contest.
Montana would continue on a five point run into the break to take a 32-28 lead ending on a turnover by the Bengals that turned into a fast break run for Ena. Montana would score nine points from Idaho State's seven turnovers, three coming in the final four minutes of play in the first half. Montana would end the break with its largest lead of the first half at four points coming back from an 11-point deficit posted by Idaho State at the 11:38 mark.
Rebounds were a factor in the first half as Idaho State kept up with the Griz posting 12 rebounds to Montana's 16 at the break; however the Griz led on the offensive boards hitting seven to ISU's two. The Bengals finished the first half shooting 52.2 percent from the field while holding the Griz to 45.2 percent. Idaho State sank four treys in the first half while Montana was held to a single three from its three-point shot leader Rogers.
Iacovita would be the leading force in the start of the second half as she would score eight of ISU's 11 points to tie up the score at 39. Montana would go on a 12-5 run to take a 51-44 lead. Brown would impose her will and post four points to reduce the Griz lead to three with 7:19 left.
The Bengals would make it a two point game down 50-52 as Iacovita hit a turnaround jumper with 4:55 remaining. Montana never led by double-figures until its 18-4 run gave them the advantage to close out the game giving Montana a 14 point difference at the final buzzer.
Ena would hit a crucial jumper and draw a foul converting for three to give Montana a five-point lead. Morales would push Montana into a double-figure lead hitting a trey, her only one of the game, off the left wing to give the Griz a 60-50 lead.
"To come into this environment and play so well shows great character considering the circumstances we were under," said Sobolewski. "The big difference tonight was free throws."
With the Bengals fouling to gain a possession, Montana would simply widen the gap hitting 10-of-10 from the line in the remaining 1:13 seconds. Morales would score six of her points in the final minute from the line as she was 6-of-6.
Idaho State would sneak in the final two layups of seniors Brown and Grohs' careers along with a jumper by Iacovita before Montana would secure the 70-56 win.
"It was a good way to go out," said Brown of her last career game for Idaho State. "Of course the competitive person in me wants to win every game. We played really hard. That was a good closer for me and Michelle (Grohs) to go out on.''
Idaho State would out hit the Griz 47.1 percent from the field and 31.8 percent from the arc, while Montana was 44.4 percent from the field and 21.4 percent from the arc. Though the Bengals would lead the percentages from field, Idaho State would see the line just two times as Brown was 1-of-2 in her only trip in the second half. Montana hit 19-of-22 shots at the stripe for 86.4 percent accuracy to give them the boost for the victory.
Montana had three players in double figures with Morales leading at 25 points, followed by Rogers with 17 and Ena chipped in 14 points. Idaho State's senior Grohs ended her 14 consecutive double-figure games as she scored nine points for the Bengals. Grohs was solid defensively posting a game-high three blocks.
Notes: Idaho State matched the Griz with 24 points in the paint ... Both teams starters led the contest with each team's bench recording two points ... Montana capitalized on turnovers and offensive boards as the Griz scored 17 points off turnovers and 12 points on second chances as Montana would record 13 offenive boards to ISU's six ... The Griz outrebounded Idaho State in the second half by six to for an overall 10 rebound lead at 35-25 ... Idaho State scored 28 points in each half ... Devin Diehl recorded eight points for the Bengals and played nearly all 40 minutes ... Both Morales and Rogers were forced to play 40 minutes ... Idaho State last defeated Montana last season in a 90-77 victory at Reed Gym for the Bengals sixth win over the Griz in program history.
