Box Score
GREELEY, Colo. – Junior forward
Cydney Horton came within one point of her career high as she led Idaho State (6-7, 1-3 BSC) with 18 points Saturday in ISU's 71-63 loss to Northern Colorado (6-6, 3-0 BSC). Horton, an Aurora, Colo., native, also posted a team-high eight rebounds and three blocks in front of many of her friends and family in today's contest. Horton is now just five away from 100 career blocks.
The Bengals led for most of the first half and boasted a seven-point led with less than seven minutes remaining in the half before Northern Colorado used an 18-2 run to end the period with a 38-29 lead.
ISU came out slow again in the second half and the Bears extended their lead to as much as 18 points before ISU began a second-half comeback that got the Bengals to within three points with 8:30 left to play in the game.
That would be as close as ISU would get, however, as the Bears closed the contest with an eight-point spread, marking just the second time in program history that Northern Colorado has defeated Idaho State.
“I'm proud of our second-half effort, but the hole we dug in the first half proved to be more than we could overcome,” ISU Head Coach
Seton Sobolewski said. “Northern Colorado played inspired and did a nice job knocking down outside shots.”
Junior guard
Lindsey Reed and senior forward
Ashleigh Vella also scored in double figures Saturday against the Bears.
Reed scored 10 points in the second half alone to bring her game total to 15. She also added four rebounds, one assist and a block in 36 minutes of play.
Vella recorded 11 points with three rebounds and one assist despite playing just 22 minutes after getting into foul trouble.
Overall, Idaho State shot 35.1 percent from the field and 35.3 percent from 3-point range. The Bengals continued to perform well from the free throw line, sinking 17-of-21 for an 81 percent shooting performance.
Northern Colorado put up a strong offensive effort against the Bengals, shooting 44.7 percent for the contest and netting 6-of-16 from 3-point range. Prior to today's contest, the Bears had only shot 69 percent from the free throw line, but NC used a strong performance there today to defeat ISU, sinking 23-of-27 for an 85.2 shot percentage.
Northern Colorado's Lauren Oosdyke and D'shara Strange led all scorers, netting 21 and 20 points apiece respectively.
Idaho State returns home next week for a contest against Big Sky newcomer Southern Utah Thursday, Jan. 10 at 7 p.m.
We Are Your Bengals
