Box Score
CEDAR CITY, Utah – Idaho State survived a late comeback bid to top Southern Utah, 69-65, at Centrum Arena Saturday afternoon.
Jessica Tingey led Idaho State with a career-high 19 points and nine rebounds while
Lindsey Reed scored 13.
Idaho State flipped the script of their previous three games and jumped out to 9-3 lead behind baskets from Reed, Tingey,
Kara Jenkins and
Alissa Willard.
Southern Utah then went on an 11-5 run to tie the game at 14 with 11:10 to play in the first half. The T-Birds found success off ISU turnovers, forcing the Bengals into 14 first-half miscues. But Idaho State outrebounded SUU 26-18 in the first frame, leading to 10 second chance points.
Southern Utah took their first lead of the game (19-18) on a layup by Marquelle Funk with 8:14 left in the first half but
Rebecca Schrimpsher scored on the next Bengal possession to give ISU a 20-19 lead. The basket also sparked a 13-5 run to end the half and give ISU a 31-24 lead at the break.
The Bengals extended the lead to 54-36 on a Tingey layup with 8:30 to play in the game before Southern Utah started a run of their own.
Behind a full-court press and good shooting the T-Birds went on a 20-6 run to cut the ISU lead to 60-56.
The Bengals then fought back to keep Southern Utah at bay to earn the 69-65 win.
"We eked it out," Head Coach
Seton Sobolewski said. "We needed every point of that 18-point lead to get the win but give credit to Southern Utah for coming back and making us fight for it."
The Bengals received contribution from players that haven't had a big impact on the box score this season.
Willard had a career-high seven points off of the bench and
Katrina Bacovcin scored four points for ISU.
Sherise Porchia had five points for Idaho State but handled the ball against the Southern Utah full-court press with admirable results.
"We got a lot of production out of some players that haven't played a lot," Sobolewski said. "Katrina had some great shots and Sherise handled the ball very well against the press. It was the first of four games in eight days and we will need to have production all the way down the bench if we are going to make it through the stretch in good shape."
The Bengals outrebounded Southern Utah 48-41 led by Tingey's nine.
"We understand how good of a rebounding team SUU is and we did a lot to prepare for them," Sobolewski said. "It was a big part of building that lead."
The Bengals shot were 24-of-54 from the field for a .462 shooting percentage, their second highest of the season. The Bengals also held SUU to 20-of-70(.286) from the field.
The win moved Sobolewski past Jon Newlee for the most Big Sky wins in Idaho State history with 55. Newlee still holds the record for total career wins with 93 but Sobolewski has 90.
The Bengals return to Reed Gym on Monday when they host Weber State at 7 p.m. Fans are encouraged to wear white to help the Bengals "Whiteout Weber."
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