Box Score
Media Book | Final Stats
MISSOULA, Mont. – Idaho State (11-6, 2-2 BSC) held a 31-22 lead in the first half before stumbling in the second due to offensive struggles, fouls and missed rebound opportunities to fall 61-54 to Montana (8-10, 3-2 BSC) at the Dahlberg Arena Thursday night.
The Bengals were out-rebounded 26-15 in the second half giving Montana the opportunity to earn 10 second chance points and trips to the free throw line. Montana hit 16-of-19 (84.2 percent) in the second half scoring almost half of their points from the line with a 27-of-35 effort for the game.
“Chelsea fouled out, we put them on the line 19 times in the second half and we struggled to score. In a nutshell that's what happened,” said Head Coach Seton Sobolewski of Idaho State's struggles in the second half. “Considering all the things that went wrong in the game, overall fouls and Chelsea fouling out after only 13 minutes we played pretty well. Too many things went wrong. You can't let someone shoot 35 free throws and think you are going to win.”
Idaho State had a promising start holding Montana to just five made field goals in the first half from 28 attempts for 17.9 percent accuracy. Montana's 11-of-16 effort (68.8 percent) at the line in the first half kept the Griz in the contest, but put several Bengals in early foul trouble including Big Sky scoring leader Chelsea Pickering.
Due to her early foul trouble Pickering competed just five minutes in the first half, 13 minutes for the game before fouling out with 8:31 remaining in the contest. Idaho State was tied with Montana 37-37 when Pickering fouled out. With her minimal time on the floor the senior guard was held scoreless for the first time this season ending her 14 game double-figure scoring streak which led the league.
Even with the foul issues that kept veteran players on the bench, Idaho State's young players didn't let the level of play fall off; in fact, the young line-up built ISU's largest lead of the game to 13 points, 27-14, with 5:08 remaining in the first half.
“They played great defense,” said Sobolewski of ISU's effort in the first half. “It was very positive to see because Ash Vella and Chelsea didn't play much in the first half because of foul trouble.”
Idaho State held Montana's leading scorer Katie Baker to 0-of-8 from the field, however her 10-of-10 effort at the line earned the guard her double-figure scoring game. Baker also recorded a double-double with 19 rebounds, 11 on offense. She pulled down 10 rebounds in the second half alone.
“It's not that they finished a lot of them, but they would get an offensive board and we would foul and put them on the line. They got a few more shots because of offensive rebounds,” said Sobolewski.
Sophomore guard Kaela Oakes was the only player in double-figure points with 10 heading into the break. She would score a team-high 15 points to lead ISU in scoring for the second straight game. For the contest, Oakes was 4-of-15 from the field, 3-of-8 from the arc and 4-of-4 from the line. She also pulled down a career-high eight rebounds. Sophomore forward Ashleigh Vella and senior guard Andrea Blodgett both contributed 13 points.
Montana's Stephanie Stender would put up a game-high 16 points on the scoreboard, scoring 12 of her points in the second half with a 5-of-8 effort from the field and a 2-of-4 effort from the arc.
Idaho State's biggest lesson from the loss is the players need more on-court experience according to Head Coach Sobolewski.
“There were so many of freshman who played tonight in that tough environment. It's tough because it's such a high pressure situation. It's a close game, you can't make mistakes, and the crowd is into it. I think the young people they feel it. They've never experienced it before. It's something new for them. In this game you have a chance to win the second game ever on the road and it's a conference game so it's a lot more pressure than a Texas Tech or a Texas game. They need more experience, bottom line,” said Sobolewski.
Idaho State's next contest will be its fourth straight road game. The Bengals will play conference leader Montana State on Monday, Jan. 24 at the Worthington Arena with a 7:05 p.m. tip-off. Idaho State is now fifth in the league standings.
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