Box Score FINAL BOOK | FINAL STATS
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Idaho State (5-3) defeated Jackson State (0-4) 47-36 Saturday afternoon despite struggling on the offensive side of the ball. Junior forward
Ashleigh Vella led Idaho State with 22 points and 15 rebounds for her first double-double this season. Vella's 15 rebounds is a career high for the Melbourne, Australia native and her 22 points is a season high. Vella also recorded three assists and one block.
“She did a great job and I'm very proud of Ashleigh tonight,” ISU Head Coach
Seton Sobolewski said. “She had a mental challenge to overcome tonight. She started off poorly with four turnovers in the first half. She made several mental mistakes and you could tell she was struggling but she fought through it and mentally found a way to get herself back on track. She hit some shots for us and found a way to get herself to the free throw line.”
Sophomore forward
Cydney Horton played a major role today as she came off the bench to score 10 points and post a career-high four blocks. Horton also recorded nine rebounds, two assists and one steal.
“Cydney just does a great job,” Sobolewski said. “She had a huge three-point play today and did a great job on the boards.”
Overall, ISU struggled from the floor shooting just 13-48 for a 27.1 shooting percentage while holding Jackson State to 26.4 percent from the field. Idaho State outrebounded JSU 47-38 and forced 10 turnovers.
“Some games are just like this and you have to find a way to win,” Sobolewski said. “There are obstacles like this all the time and it might not be pretty but you have to grind it out and find a way to get it done. I told the girls in the locker room that I'm almost more proud of them after tonight's game than I was after last night's game because we didn't get discouraged and fold and lose like we did at Utah Valley. We hung in there and did what we needed to do to get the win.”
At halftime, the score between the Bengals and Tigers was just 19-14. The Bengals shot just 26 percent from the field but had recorded six blocks.
In the second half, ISU improved its shooting percentage slightly connecting with 7 of 25 for a 28 percent shooting average. The Bengals made eight points in the paint and posted six second-chance points. Junior guard
Kaela Oakes connected with a three-point shot early in the second half to put ISU up 22-14 while Vella hit a critical three-pointer at 15:27 to swing the momentum ISU's way and extend the lead to 25-18.
The Bengals are now on a two-game winning streak after defeating South Florida last night and the team's six-game road stretch is coming close to an end as the Bengals have one more road game remaining before returning to Pocatello for five straight games at home.
“I think it's fantastic that we drove 11.5 hours to get out here and we're about to drive 11.5 hours back and we didn't use that as an excuse,” Sobolewski said. “We played tough. We got a fantastic win against a Big East team in South Florida and got a great win over Jackson State in a game where we were really struggling mentally. It's been a fantastic trip. It shows a little bit of toughness.”
ISU faces Utah Tuesday, Dec. 6 at 7 p.m. in Salt Lake City. ISU defeated Utah last season 71-68 at the Huntsman Center.
We Are Your Bengals
