Jan. 4, 2010
Final Stats
Montana Box Score 
Missoula, MT - Freshman Katie Baker's hot second half that included 11 points in Montana's late 17-2 run to give the Griz its largest lead of the game with 3:45 remaining was too much for the Bengals to recover in Idaho State's 63-55 loss at Dahlberg Arena Monday night. Baker posted a double-double recording 23 points and a season-high 17 rebounds, 10 on offense alone. Senior Devin Diehl led the Bengals in scoring for the first time this season with 11 points.
"I felt offensive rebounding made the difference tonight," said Head Coach Seton Sobolewski. "Katie Baker did a nice job on the o-board put backs and with them being aggressive that way they were able to make it to the free throw line more."
Montana out-rebounded Idaho State 46-to-38 and captured four more offensive boards. However, the Bengals aggressive defense under the basket was able to keep Montana from outscoring the Bengals in the paint as both teams notched 16 points from the key. The aggressive play also came with a small price as Idaho State was whistled with 22 personal fouls which the Griz converted into 17 easy points.
Montana's win sealed a 2-0 start in Big Sky play and improved its season record to 7-7, while at the same time ending Idaho State's four-game winning streak dropping ISU to 1-1 in league play and 6-9 for the season.
Senior Diehl led Idaho State with 11 points hitting 2-of-7 from the arc as well as 5-of-6 from the line. She also recorded six rebounds, five on offense, and four assists. Senior Oana Iacovita, who was named Big Sky Player of the Week earlier in the day, notched 10 points and pulled down seven rebounds.
"Ultimately, we played a good team in a tough atmosphere on their court and we gave it a great game," said Head Coach Seton Sobolewski. "But I told the girls that we can't be content with just wanting to play someone tough."
Montana led through the majority of the first 20 minutes, save for one second when Idaho State went on a 7-0 run to close out the first half where Diehl recorded five of her eight first half points. With quick fast passes from senior Andrea Videbeck the Bengals were able to control the offensive pace. Videbeck, who posted nine of her own points, kicked the ball out to Diehl at the top of the key to drain the trey putting ISU within three points of the Griz.
On ISU's next possession Videbeck made a long pass down to freshman Brea Matthews, who had sprinted to the basket, after a defensive rebound by Iacovita to put away the layup with two Montana defenders on her back. Montana's Lauren Beck would foul Diehl at the arc with one second left to give the Bengal three shots at the line of which she sank the last two handing ISU its first lead of the game with 27-26 on the scoreboard heading into the break.
The Bengals 7-0 run at the end of the first half extended to a 12-0 run into the second as junior Chelsea Pickering opened play with a three-pointer and Iacovita added a jumper to the mix giving ISU its largest lead of six points at the 16:34 mark before Montana finally responded.
It would be neck-and-neck until Katie Baker's hot streak where the freshman forward would record 11 points in Montana's 17-2 run to give the Griz its largest lead of 12 points at 53-41 with 3:45 remaining. Baker scored 17 of her 23 points in the second half alone. She was 7-of-16 from the field and 9-of-11 from the line.
"Our effort overall was good, we just need to work on little details such as rebounding and our zone offense needs to get a little better," said Sobolewski. "We aren't looking for the right things and we are shooting way too many threes so that hurt us. We can't shoot more than 25 percent of our shots as three's. We've got to do a better job of working the ball and getting closer shots."
The Bengals struggled offensively hitting just 33.9 percent (20-of-59) from the field, of which 24 were beyond the arc, but ISU could only convert five of its treys. Though ISU struggled offensively its defense kept them in the game as they held Montana to 8-of-29 (27.6 percent) from the field in the first half and caused the Lady Griz to turn the Ball over 16 times.
Montana's Stephanie Stender also put a wrench in the Bengals game as she hit 4-of-7 from the arc helping Montana hit 6-of-12 (50 percent) for the game. Idaho State did hold one of Montana's top scorer's Sarah Ena to two points.
Idaho State will host its first Big Sky home game against Northern Arizona on Friday, January 8 at Reed Gym, as well as its first back-to-back conference game when the Bengals play Northern Colorado on Saturday, January 9 just 24 hours later. Both games Tip-off at 7:05 p.m.
Note: Idaho State has only been victorious at Dahlberg Arena once in school history on January 18, 2001 when ISU overcame Montana 67-62 in front of 3,408 fans ... Freshman Ashleigh Vella led the Bengals with eight rebounds and four steals.
