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POCATELLO, Idaho – Junior guard
Kaela Oakes hit a layup with nine seconds remaining to clinch a close victory Saturday afternoon against Western Athletic Conference opponent Utah State (5-4) at home in Reed Gym. Oakes' layup elevated the Bengals to a 67-65 win and improves the Bengals to 6-4 overall in a season where ISU has played just two games at home so far.
“Today we learned that if you move the ball quick enough against the zone, you'll get good shots,” ISU Head Coach
Seton Sobolewski said. “We also learned that we are a good shooting team we've just went through a little bit of a drought in the last two games. I think being at home made a big difference.”
Three Bengals scored in double digits Saturday, led by sophomore Guard
Lindsey Reed who posted a game-high 16 points. Senior guard
Chelsea Pickering and junior guard
Kaela Oakes chipped in with 15 apiece. Reed nearly had a double-double on the night as she led the Bengals with eight rebounds.
Sophomore forward
Cydney Horton continued to pose a strong defensive threat off the bench as the 6-1 Aurora, Colo., native posted a career-tying four blocks today. Horton also posted nine points, five rebounds and two assists.
“Today you really saw what
Cydney Horton could do when she is focused,” Sobolewski said. “She came in during the first half and did a great job. In the second half she made a couple buckets for us late. She had four blocks which was huge for us, especially when playing against someone like Banna Diop.”
As a whole, the Bengals rebounded off a poor shooting performance against Utah Tuesday evening, connecting with 24-50 against the Aggies for a 48 percent shooting percentage, the highest shooting performance for the Bengals this season and ending a two-game streak of shooting less than 30 percent.
The Bengals also outrebounded Utah State 35-32 and ISU's bench outscored USU's 24-21. The Bengals' defense held the Aggies to just a 37.3 shooting percentage and forced 10 turnovers.
In the first half, ISU opened up an 11-point lead as ISU once again found the shot from beyond the arc. Pickering hit the first three of the game at the 16:33, a critical shot that ended a 7-1 USU run early in the game. Junior forward
Ashleigh Vella then hit a three at 14:33 to narrow USU's lead to two at 9-11. Oakes went on to score a layup at 12:56 to tie it up followed by another layup at 12:26 to give ISU its first lead of the game. Reed hit a three at 5:56 to put ISU up 23-16 which led to a 10-6 run to finish the half.
In the second half, USU began chiseling into ISU's lead as the Aggies opened up a 10-3 run in the first five minutes to cut ISU's lead down to two. Reed then hit a critical three to put ISU back up 39-34. Utah State regained the lead at 13:09 off of four straight free throws, however, the lead was short lived as the Bengals went on an 18-5 run to open a 12-point lead. The Aggies tried once again to cut into the lead, tying it back up with 1:41 remaining, but Oakes' wide open layup with nine seconds remaining sealed the deal for ISU, as the Bengals defeated USU 67-65.
ISU now leads the series between the two schools 16-13. Idaho State has won the last six meetings between the two programs. The win against Utah State also improves Sobolewski to 24-4 at home in Reed Gym since the start of the 2009-10 season.
“You have to defend your home court and win your games at home,” Sobolewski said. “Championship teams can win on the road too though. We have to able to go on the road and win a championship and that means we have to go to the Montana schools, Greeley and Flagstaff and be able to win there. I think that's going to be the key.”
Idaho State returns to the hardwood Monday, Dec. 19 against Oklahoma Panhandle State at 7:05 p.m. The game will be played in Holt Arena as work to redesign and resurface the court in Reed Gym begins Monday, Dec. 12. This will be the first time ISU women's basketball has played in Holt Arena since Feb. 9, 2002 when ISU defeated Sacramento State 75-49.
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