Feb. 11, 2010
Final Stats
Box Score: Idaho State 62 - Northern Colorado 51 
Greeley, CO -- Idaho State (10-14, 5-6 BSC) ended a five game losing streak with an all around strong second half holding Northern Colorado (11-13, 3-7 BSC) to 24 points while hitting 50 percent from the field and arc for a 62-51 victory at the Butler-Hancock Sports Pavilion Thursday night. The plus-11 margin is Idaho State's largest in Big Sky play. The Bengals improved to 5-6 in league action to tie for fifth in the Big Sky rankings with Montana State. Idaho State also improved its undefeated series record to 10-0 over the Bears.
"I told them in the locker room that I was very proud of them. It's nice when you need to win a game and you come through. I was very proud of their effort defensively and in rebounding. Just a nice team effort," said Head Coach Seton Sobolewski.
It was Idaho State's second half effort that led the Bengals to success as they held Northern Colorado to eight points in the first 14:33 of play. The Bengals lit up a 30-5 run to start the second half holding Northern Colorado scoreless for several minutes at a time where Idaho State would posts its largest lead of 22 off an Andrea Videbeck layup with 6:47 remaining in the second half.
"They're related. It's a change in momentum," said Head Coach Seton Sobolewski of ISU's definitive victory to end the losing streak, where the Bengals held as much as a 22-point lead. "Especially in the second half we played exceptional defense. It's the effort we are going to need all year if we are going to have a chance to win."
The Bengals' top scorers Videbeck and Morgan Wohltman both hit 50 percent from the field, guiding the team to the same effort for a 12-of-24 clip from the field for the second half. Idaho State would also hit 50 percent from the arc draining 4-of-8 led by Wohltman with two.
"Morgan coming off the bench hitting those threes was a really nice shot in the arm, it kind of got us going," said Sobolewski.
Videbeck posted a game-high and career-high tying 19 points. The senior guard knocked down 7-of-14 from the field (50 percent), including 3-of-5 from the arc (60 percent). Freshman Wohltman posted 12 points hitting 4-of-8 from the field (50 percent) and 2-of-5 from the arc (40 percent). Senior forward Oana Iacovita posted her third double-double of the season with 11 points and 11 rebounds, three on offense.
"Oana was really hot early then Northern Colorado did a nice job defending her in the second half, but she still came through in the rebounding department," said Sobolewksi of Iacovita's performance.
Freshman Ashley Smith had an incredible night, especially after coming off a week of rest from pneumonia. The forward recorded a career-high eight points hitting perfectly for the night with 3-of-3 from the field, as well as draining her only trey and shot at the line to convert the three-point play. She also pulled down three rebounds, all in 16 minutes of play.
"A.J. (Ashley Smith) was amazing tonight. She showed you what she could do when she's energetic and playing hard, that's a phenomenal effort," said Sobolewski.
Senior guard Whitley Cox was the redeeming factor for the Bears scoring 12 of her 18 points in the second half, hitting five of UNC's eight field goals. Cox would post 18 points, accounting for 35 percent of UNC's scoring, hitting 7-of-12 from the field for the night. She was 4-of-5 from the line. Redshirt junior Andrea Blodgett played a strong role defensively holding Cox to six points in the first half. Blodgett recorded a career-high four steals.
Northern Colorado would close the contest on a 7-0 run to reduce the Bengals 18-point lead. The Bengals held the Bears to 20 points save the final two seconds when Smith fouled Kaisha Brown on a trey which she converted to four points from the line.
In the first half, the Bengals caused Northern Colorado to turn the ball over 17 times, but poor shooting kept the contest from swinging in ISU's favor as both teams were tied with 27 points at the half. Idaho State shot just 32 percent (11-of-34) from the field in the first half while the Bears hit 41 percent (9-of-22) of their shots.
Northern Colorado recorded a season-high 26 turnovers for the game, seven by leading scorer Whitley Cox. Idaho State is the only Big Sky team to cause the Bears to turn the ball over 20-plus times as the ISU had Northern Colorado cough up the ball 22 times in its last meeting.
Idaho State was edged out 36-to-35 in rebounds, but hit the boards where it counted pulling down eight offensive rebounds to the Bears' six. Iacovita posted a game-high in both offensive and defensive rebounds pulling down three on offensive end and eight on defense.
The Bengals had just three players scoring for the team until the last 47 seconds of the first half when freshman Wohltman drove to the basket for a layup and drew the foul earning three points in her effort as she finished at the line.
Idaho State will have a day to travel before matching up with Northern Arizona on Saturday, February 13 at 6:35 p.m. in the Walkup Skydome.
"NAU we are going to have to have the same defensive effort. We need to do a good job on (Amy) Patton. She seems to score a big portion of their points and she is one of the leaders in the conference in scoring so we need to really step-up and defend her," said Sobolewski. "We also need to do a good job of defending the low post."
Notes: Lauren Oosdyke was whistled with a technical foul at the 17 minute mark where Videbeck went 1-of-1 from the line, she was held to zero points over ten minutes as she got in early foul trouble and struggled offensively ... Senior Devin Diehl posted a season-high two blocks ... Bear Lizzie Cooper and Bengal Videbeck started each half scoring for their respective teams by three-pointers with Cooper leading and Videbeck responding both times ... Idaho State picked up its third road conference victory over the Bears ... Junior Chelsea Pickering played in her first game since being out with a concussion for six games.
