PORTLAND, Oregon – The Idaho State women's basketball team (9-10, 4-4 BSC) shook off a slow start to come back and defeat Portland State 65-53 Saturday night at the Stott Center in Oregon.
The Bengals fell behind 13-2 just over five minutes into the game and trailed by eight late in the first half before cutting the lead to just one at the break. Anna Lee Policcichio scored 11 of her team-high 18 points in the first half to help keep ISU in the game. She would also finish with five rebounds and four blocks.
"She was the one that kind of got us going," Head Coach
Seton Sobolewski said. "When Portland State made their initial run, she is the one that found buckets and we found her the ball. She hit a lot of really tough shots. She looked really good tonight. We needed that and she provided it."
ISU roared out of the halftime locker room immediately took their first lead of the game just 11 seconds into the second half on a jumper from
Apiphany Woods. It would be an advantage the team would never relinquish.
They would stretch the lead to as many as 11 with just 8:31 left to play, however the team from the Rose City would not go away.
"Their zone defense was a complete surprise for us. They played it the whole game," Sobolewski said. "I don't remember a game this year that they have played all zone. This was totally different than what we thought. I think it was a part of the slow start because we hadn't been practicing for it. I am happy with the way we eventually adjusted."
Clinging to a 55-51 lead with just over four minutes left to play in the game, redshirt freshman
Grace Kenyon connected on a three-pointer to seal the victory for Idaho State. The Washington native finished with 10 points, five rebounds and four assists.
"The nice thing about Grace is she can kind of turn her brain off for a minute and not be impacted by nerves," Sobolewski said.
Apiphany Woods collected her first career double-double with 12 points and ten assists. The ten assists is the most in a game by an ISU player since
Andrea Videbeck had 12 against Montana State on February 5, 2010. Videbeck is now an assistant coach for the Bengals.
"I thought she (Woods) did a fantastic job of distributing the ball," Sobolewski said. "She was put in a position where she had to make some tough passes and she did a great job of getting the ball to people who were open and they knocked shots down."
Sobolewski was also complimentary of the way Woods shot the ball against the Vikings.
"I have never had a player with the touch on the ball like her or someone who can shoot floaters like her. She finishes really well without using the backboard which is really tough to do."
Jasmine Lemon also reached double-figures with 12 points and tied her career-high with six rebounds. ISU outrebounded PSU 38-24 and finished with 32-19 advantage in points in the paint.
"I thought she (Lemon) hit a couple of big threes to keep Portland State honest on defense," Sobolewski said.
Idaho State shot their second highest field goal percentage of the year at 52.2% (24-46).
The Bengals return home for a pair of games next week on the Idaho Central Credit Union Court inside Reed Gym. ISU will welcome Northern Colorado on Thursday night at 7 p.m. before hosting North Dakota on Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m.
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