Box Score FINAL BOX | FINAL STATS
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – Idaho State (5-4) fell 56-31 to Utah in Salt Lake City, Utah Tuesday night. Idaho State was once again plagued by scoring droughts, shooting just 21.8 percent from the field. Junior guard
Kaela Oakes led Idaho State with nine points.
Oakes, who was named College Sports Madness Big Sky Player of the Week earlier in the week, also recorded five rebounds and two steals. Senior guard
Chelsea Pickering made her first appearance since her injury earlier this season. Pickering put up seven points and pulled down three rebounds in just six minutes of play. Sophomore guard
Lindsey Reed also scored seven points with two rebounds.
Idaho State held Utah's top scorer Taryn Wicijowski to just five points in the game and forced 11 Utah turnovers. Wicijowski had entered the game averaging 15.7 points per game.
“We played good defense tonight,” ISU Head Coach
Seton Sobolewski said. “We held their top scorer to just five points. Our defense is putting us in a position to win we just have to start making some shots. That is going to be our focus now.”
Utah outrebounded Idaho State 46-31. Idaho State grabbed 12 offensive rebounds during the contest while the Utes notched 14. Utah shot 40 percent from the field and 31.6 percent from the three-point line.
In the first half, Idaho State shot 25.9 percent. The Bengals posted 12 points in the paint, eight points off of turnovers and converted two second chance points. Idaho State's bench outscored Utah's 7-4. The Bengals were down by just 10 points at the buzzer, trailing Utah 29-19.
In the second half, ISU continued to struggle offensively as the team shot just 17.9 percent for the half. The Bengals scored eight points in the paint, two off of turnovers and two from second-chance opportunities. The bench contributed two points for a total of 9 points in the game.
The game against Utah wraps up a six-game road stretch for Idaho State. In the team's opening nine games of the season, ISU has played just once at home and the team is looking forward to returning to Pocatello where the team will host five straight games including the conference opener against Northern Colorado.
Idaho State kicks off the five-game home stretch in a match-up against Utah State (5-3) Saturday in Reed Gym at 2 p.m.
We Are Your Bengals
