Box Score FINAL BOX | FINAL STATS
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Idaho State (4-3) shocked Big East opponent South Florida (5-4) Friday night in a 76-63 victory over the Bulls in the first game of the Air Force Classic. Junior
Kaela Oakes led Idaho State with 22 points behind an impressive three-point shooting performance. Oakes made a career-tying five shots from behind the arc during the evening.
Oakes also recorded two rebounds and two assists. Sophomore guard
Lindsey Reed and junior forward
Ashleigh Vella also scored in the double digits against South Florida. Reed put up 14 points with eight rebounds and three assists. Vella scored 13 points, pulled down six rebounds and posted two assists.
“Kaela was definitely impressive tonight, ISU Head Coach
Seton Sobolewski said. “Anytime you can hit five threes in a night its pretty good. She had to play a lot tonight, more than I wanted her to, but she was tough, she hit driving layups and she hit five open threes. She, Lindsey and Vella really got us started in the first half at the three.”
Overall, Idaho State shot 43.4 (25-53) percent from the field and beat South Florida on the boards 48-38. ISU held the Bulls to just a 29.3 (22-75) shooting percentage from the floor during the game and 28.0 percent from the three-point line. ISU also recorded eight offensive rebounds and two steals and forced 16 USF turnovers. The top scorer for the Bulls, Kaneisha Saunders, came into the match-up averaging 13.5 points per game but ISU held her to just eight tonight.
“They got 22 more shots than us and we were able to beat them and the reason why was that they were exhausted,” Sobolewski said. “They got the extra positions but they were so tired from the altitude that they couldn't make the shot.”
Idaho State came out strong and fast in the first half, knocking down five three-point shots in the first five minutes of the contest, opening up a 15-0 lead against the Bulls. Three of the five shots came from Oakes while Reed hit one at 19:21 and Vella connected with one at the 18:13 mark. Oakes ended the half with a team high 11 points while Reed notched eight. On top of the offensive attack, ISU's defense supplied a one-two punch as the Bengals held USF scoreless for almost five minutes.
Also in the first half, ISU shot 35.3 percent from the field and went 6-18 (33.3 percent) from the three-point line. The Bengals scored 14 points off of turnovers and outrebounded USF 30-24. The Bengals held the Bulls to shooting just 18.9 percent from the field and 15.4 percent from the arc. ISU forced eight USF turnovers and held Saunders to just four points in the half.
Idaho State continued a high level of play and intensity in the second half. The Bengals hit four more three-point shots in the half to bring the total amounts of threes to 10. Oakes hit a trey at 16:40 to put ISU up 44-30 while Reed connected with a long shot at 12:04 to put the Bengals up 54-39. Freshman
Rebecca Schrimpsher recorded her first collegiate points with a three-point shot at 8:57 to give ISU a 61-44 lead. Oakes then hit her fifth three of the night at 5:31 to put the Bengals up 68-53.
“Anytime you can beat a Big East school, that's a big deal,” Sobolewski said. “Those guys have to be good enough to compete with UConn, Notre Dame and Villanova every day in conference. It was a great team effort and we are really excited.”
Idaho State women's basketball action returns Saturday, Dec. 3 against Jackson State (0-4) in the second day of the Air Force Classic. Tipoff is scheduled for 2 p.m. MST.
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