Box Score
MISSOULA, Mont. – Idaho State fell to a hot shooting Sacramento State 73-60 Wednesday night in the quarterfinals of the Big Sky Women's Basketball Tournament. The Bengals fall to 18-12 overall on the season while Sacramento State improves to 19-11 and will face regular-season champion Montana Friday in the semifinals.
Senior forward
Jessa Jeppesen recorded the third double-double of her career with 14 points and a career-high 14 rebounds. Jeppesen shot 6-11 from the field and recorded one assist, two blocks and a steal in 34 minutes of play.
Junior guard
Lindsey Reed led all players with 17 points on the night. Reed shot 6-15 from the floor and hit five 3-pointers. Reed also had four rebounds and three assists.
Senior forward
Ashleigh Vella neared double figures in both points and rebounds as the Melbourne, Australia native netted nine points and pulled down nine rebounds. Vella also recorded five assists and two blocks.
While Sacramento State was hot offensively, the Bengals struggled slightly with shooting as the Bengals shot 36.9 percent for the game and just 33.3 percent in the second half. The Hornets shot 43.1 percent from the field and drilled nine 3-pointers in the contest.
“I thought we played hard, but you have to give credit to Sacramento State,” ISU Head Coach
Seton Sobolewski said. “They hit open shots, got to the free throw line and did really good things off the dribble. They found the open person and really made you pay. We had a hard time getting into the correct offense and struggled to adjust to what they were doing defensively, but I'm proud of our effort. We played hard. We came up with 16 o-boards and made a lot of great effort plays.”
The Bengals committed 21 turnovers in the contest compared to Sacramento State's 12.
Sacramento State's hot shooting in the first half tripped up the Bengals slightly. The Hornets knocked down six 3-point shots in the first 20 minutes, shooting 54.5 percent from the beyond the arc. The Bengals trailed SAC 21-11 with 9:19 remaining before the Bengals surged off a 3-pointer by Vella, spurring a 17-7 run to tie the contest 28-28 with 3:17 remaining in the half.
ISU regained the lead 30-28 at the 2:04 mark off a jumper by senior guard
Abyee Maracigan. Sacramento State's Hilliard answered with a 3-pointer to put the Hornets up 31-30. With just over a minute left in the half, Vella went to the line, hit both and gave ISU a 32-31 lead. Sacramento State's Kuhns hit a shot with 48 seconds left to give SAC a 33-32 edge but a jumper at the buzzer by Jeppesen put ISU up 34-33 at the half.
Despite the loss, Idaho State's season may extend a little longer as the team waits to hear if it receives an invite to the Women's Basketball Invitational. Stay tuned for
www.isubengals.com to see where the Bengals might be headed.
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