Box Score
POCATELLO, Idaho - The ISU women's basketball team clinched a Big Sky Conference Tournament spot for the 10th time in a row as the squad defeated Northern Arizona 67-46 Thursday night in Reed Gym.
The Bengals improve to 16-10 overall and 11-6 in Big Sky action while Northern Arizona falls to 7-19 overall and 6-11 in league play.
Senior guard
Kaela Oakes led all scorers with 18 points and had five steals in the game. She went 7-12 from the field and hit four 3-pointers. She also had two assists.
Senior forwards
Jessa Jeppesen and
Ashleigh Vella followed with 13 and 11 points, respectively. Senior guard
Abyee Maracigan, who had three points, pulled down seven rebounds as did Jeppesen.
“I thought
Jessa Jeppesen did a great job of giving us offensive options tonight,” ISU Head Coach
Seton Sobolewski said. “She got the ball deep a lot and found a way to get on the free throw line by making strong moves to the basket and I thought that really helped us.”
Idaho State's defense gave NAU fits as the Lumberjacks shot just 23.4 percent from the field and 25 percent from 3-point range. The Bengals had eight steals and five blocks in the game and held the league's leading scorer, Amy Patton, to just four points in the contest.
“Throughout the entire game, I thought we played really good defense,” Sobolewski said. “I feel like we anticipated well and knew what they were going to try to do.
Ashleigh Vella did a great job guarding Patton. She needed help a couple of times and she got that help when she needed it. I felt it was good team defense overall.”
ISU shot 37.7 percent from the field and had eight 3-pointers. While knotted with NAU with points in the paint (12), ISU out-rebounded the opposition 41-36.
After trailing 12-7 at the 11:00 minute mark in the first half, Jeppesen had four points off a basket and two free throws to narrow NAU's lead 12-11. Oakes made one of her four 3-pointers and ignited a 27-11 run to close the half.
Later in the half, Oakes tracked down a long offensive rebound and found junior guard
Kara Jenkins in the corner, who made a 3-pointer. The Bengals made four of their five 3-pointers in that stretch as Oakes hit two and Jenkins and Vella each hit one.
Junior guard
Lindsey Reed added nine points to the team's total. Reed was aggressive going to basket, forcing her way to the free throw line, shooting 9-10 from there. As a team, the Bengals were 19-24 from the charity line.
Junior guard
Sheryl Bitter had a solid night relieving Oakes at the point guard position. She had six points, four rebounds and three assists in 16 minutes of play. Vella and Reed also had three assists.
With a loss in Greeley, Colo., Eastern Washington is now also 11-6 in Big Sky action as is Sacramento State with a win over Weber State 63-57 in Ogden, Utah Thursday night. ISU is now in a three-way tie with EWU and SAC for third place in the conference standings.
Idaho State's seniors Vella, Oakes, Jeppesen, Maracigan and
Taylor Floyd will play their final games at Reed Gym Saturday, March 2 against Sacramento State. Tipoff is slated for 2 p.m.
We Are Your Bengals
