POCATELLO, Idaho – A double-digit second half deficit, a struggling offense or a hot shooting opponent, you pick the obstacle and each loomed large for the Idaho State women's basketball team. For the second time this season the Bengals (8-9, 3-3 BSC) ignored the daunting discrepancies and mounted a furious comeback to stun Northern Arizona 69-68 Saturday afternoon on the Idaho Central Credit Union Court inside Reed Gym.
"What I am really happy and proud about is how our team grew during the course of the game," Head Coach
Seton Sobolewski said.
ISU trailed by as many as 11 and found themselves down 62-52 with just 9:36 left to play in the game. The team responded with a 9-0 run to cut the lead to one and would take their first lead of the contest with just 2:55 remaining.
After NAU regained control at 68-65 the Bengals called a play for
Apiphany Woods. The junior forward drove the lane and finished amongst multiple defenders to trim the deficit to one. On the ensuing possession the ball was knocked out of bounds. The officials originally called it NAU possession but after reviewing the replay switched the call to ISU ball allowing the home team to set up an opportunity to complete the comeback.
Once again the orange and black went to their leading scorer. Woods drove the same side as her previous possession only to see her path cut off. The Chicago native quickly found redshirt-freshman
Grace Kenyon on the opposite side cutting to the hoop. Kenyon split the defense and calmly finished in the paint, giving the Bengals a 69-68 lead.
"I crashed the boards as hard as I could (on that play)," Kenyon said. "It was a great pass from Apiphany."
"We were just trying to get Apiphany to come off a ball screen knowing that she is good at getting to the basket and finishing in different ways," Sobolewski said. "She also attracts a lot of attention so if there was a kick out we knew we could have a good open shot."
Northern Arizona called timeout and drew up one last desperation play. Guard Monique Mulder's shot went in causing a temporary celebration for the visitors that was waved off because the attempt came after the final buzzer. The officials confirmed the call through the replay monitor.
"In the first half we didn't play well defensively and we didn't follow the scouting report very well," Sobolewski said. "It was a really rough start but as the game went on we grew and fixed things and did a good job of figuring it out."
"I came out thinking that today was a different game (then on Thursday)," Kenyon said. "We were down at halftime and came back with fire. My team played excellent and I fed off them."
Anna Lee Policicchio and
Apiphany Woods each had 15 points for the Bengals while
Grace Kenyon added 13 points and seven rebounds. ISU led the game for a total of 28 seconds.
The win marked the second time this season Idaho State has erased a double-digit second half deficit. The Bengals trailed Utah Valley University by 14 before eventually coming back to win 68-67.
ISU travels to Sacramento State next Thursday before facing Portland State Saturday in Oregon.
We Are Your Bengals
