Feb. 19, 2010
Final Stats
Complete Book: Idaho State 79 - Weber State 75 (OT) 
Pocatello, ID - The Bengals (12-14, 7-6 BSC) clawed their way back from a 15-point deficit to post a thrilling 79-75 overtime victory to defeat the Wildcats at Reed Gym Thursday night giving ISU a three game winning streak. The Bengals would hit all seven of its overtime shots including a 4-of-4 effort from junior Chelsea Pickering in the final 13 seconds at the line to clinch the victory. Senior Andrea Videbeck led the Bengals with a career-high 20 points.
Idaho State's last great come-back victory was when the Bengals rallied back from being down 17 points to Idaho with 17:13 remaining in the second half. Idaho State went on to defeat the Vandals 99-89 in overtime on December 10, 2005 at Reed Gym.
"I told the girls there is a lot of time left and you have to concentrate on getting stops. The offensive end, we will figure that out, but keeping getting your stops. We've got time. Don't panic. The biggest fear in that situation is that people get discouraged and say the game's over," said Head Coach Seton Sobolewski.
With 9:04 remaining in the second half and Idaho State trailing by 15 points, the third time the Bengals trailed by such a deficit, all seemed lost, but Idaho State did anything but panic. The Bengals would not admit defeat as ISU lit up a 13-2 run to cut Weber State's lead to just four points. With a dismal 4-of-8 effort at the line in the first period, the Bengals didn't seem likely to hang its hats on free throws when the contest came down to it, but ISU knew better.
Idaho State exchanged free throws, ISU hitting 6-of-6, with Weber State's hitting a three-pointer, a jumps shot and a 1-of-2 effort at the line as the contest went back and forth. Rebounding swung the game in ISU's favor as senior Videbeck posted a layup off an offensive rebound by Pickering to put the Bengals within four.
Videbeck would collect a defensive rebound and though ISU missed its shot the team corralled an o-board giving freshman forward Ashleigh Vella the opportunity to hit a three-pointer with 1:07 remaining to put the Bengals within a point of catching up to the Wildcats.
Even with a timeout from the Weber State bench, ISU's momentum could not be stopped as Videbeck converted her own defensive rebound to a driving layup to give ISU's its first lead since the opening minutes of the contest putting ISU up 63-62 with 29 seconds remaining. The senior guard would have the front-end of a shooting foul to give ISU a two-point lead, but Weber State's Tonya Schnibbe would hit a layup with no-time left to send the contest into overtime.
Momentum continued to build as ISU posted a 5-0 run to start the overtime period. Idaho State would hold its largest lead of the contest with six-points in overtime, up 71-65, off a Vella layup. Ali Thorderson would knock down a trey and freshman Nicke Park would earn her stripes hitting 3-of-4 from the line, in two separate visits with ISU in double-bonus, to tie the contest at 71 points.
Senior Oana Iacovia who had struggled all night due to the stifling defense of the Wildcats, had her shot blocked by Parks in an attempt to take the lead. She made up for the block by grabbing a defensive rebound off a Schnibbe missed jumper which was converted into a made jump shot by Iacovita to give ISU the 73-71 lead with 41 seconds remaining.
Wildcat Caitlin Anderson charged the basket in an attempt to tie the game, but would slip to fall out of bounds for the turnover. In the process Anderson was injured which was reported as an ACL tear. She recorded a game-high 27 points hitting 11-of-13 from the field and a perfect 5-of-5 from the line. She also posted a double-double with 10 rebounds. Anderson wasn't the only Wildcat to record a double-double as Schnibbe recorded 12 points and 13 assists, a season-high.
However, with ISU in the lead and time winding down Weber State was forced to foul and the Bengals never looked back as it hit 6-of-6 from the line in the final 27 seconds to give Idaho State the victory. ISU would hit 7-of-7 from the line in overtime improving its game average to 74.2 percent (23-of-31).
Idaho State would see the line 31 times over the contest, hitting 12-of-16 in the second half alone for a 75 percent effort. Junior guard Pickering would hit 11-of 13 from the line, hitting all four of her attempts in overtime in the final 13 seconds of play. Senior Videbeck kicked off the trips to the line, in the second half. She hit 8-of-12 for the contest.
"Videbeck did a tremendous job getting on the free throw line in the second half," said Sobolewski. When you get to the free throw line with someone in the lead like that you stop the clock. You have the chance to score points while the clock is stopped so that buys you time."
Senior guard Videbeck would be a driving force for the Bengals with her career-high 20 points. Videbeck began the contest with a rocky start as she twisted her ankle in the first 30 seconds which proved ghastly for ISU as Weber State lit up a 19-4 run to post its first 15 point lead with 11:24 remaining in the first half.
"That is maybe one of our worst starts ever," said Sobolewski. "A lot of credit has to go to Weber State, they did a great job with Oana (Iacovita) tonight. In the low post they contested shots, on the perimeter they really stuck with her."
"Videbeck going down early kind of killed our momentum and I just thought that Kaela Oakes did a nice job; she went right to the basket and scored. I felt like we were a little flat and they (Weber State) did a good job against our motion," said Sobolewski.
Pickering posted 17 points for the Bengals while freshman Vella posted a career-high 15 points hitting 6-of-8 from the field, 2-of-2 from the arc and 1-of-1 from the line. Videbeck was 6-of-14 from the field, she also pulled down four rebounds and made a game-high five steals.
The Bengals shot just 28.6 percent (8-of-28) in the first half, improving the rest of the way hitting 46.9 percent in the second half and 57.1 percent in overtime while Weber State maintained a solid average of 44.1 percent (26-of-59).
It was ISU's offensive rebounding that tilted the scales for the Bengals pulling down 16 to Weber State's 11 o-boards. Idaho State converted its offensive rebounds into 19 points while Weber earned six points off the opportunities.
Idaho State improved to 12-14 for the season, overcoming its win total from last year which was an 11-20 mark. The Bengals improved to 7-6 in league action to tie for fifth place in the standings with Montana State who posted an 84-73 victory over Sacramento State.
The Bengals conference victory ties its Big Sky win total from last season which was 7-9 in league play. Weber State fell to 9-17 for the season and 3-10 in league action making it nearly impossible for the Wildcats to gain post-season berth.
Idaho State will host its final back-to-back, Friday/Saturday, contest of the season next week at home. The Bengals will host Portland State on Friday, February 26 then play Eastern Washington on Saturday, February 27 with both contests starting at 7:05 p.m.
Notes: Idaho State is 2-1 in overtime contests having defeated Montana State 77-73 in its Big Sky season opener ... Wildcat Joey O'Neill and Bengal Vella both fouled out ... Iacovita recorded eight rebounds in the match-up to reach over 500 career rebounds, she currently posts 503.
