Bengals Pick Up Tough Victory Over Bears

POCATELLO, Idaho – On the very first play of the game Idaho State went to Apiphany Woods for a tough basket inside. That would be a good omen and a repeating fixture throughout the evening as the Bengals defeated Northern Colorado 70-61 Thursday night on the Idaho Central Credit Union Court inside Reed Gym.

Coming into the game the junior forward knew she would be facing a tough matchup against the leading scorer in the conference in D'Shara Strange.  Woods answered the call perfectly scoring 19 points on 7-13 from the field as ISU improved to 10-10 overall and 5-4 in Big Sky Conference play.

"D'Shara Strange is an amazing player. She is very athletic. I knew if I didn't come to play she was going to run me out of my own gym," Woods said. "I couldn't have that, so I played her tough and really tried to execute. I love competition. I compare myself to players like her and games like this help me see what I am made of."

"She's (Woods) getting more and more comfortable at our level," Head Coach Seton Sobolewski said. "She's also getting in better shape. At the beginning of the season there is no way she could have played the 33 minutes she did tonight. She has great ball handling skills, she can finish with her left hand or her right, she can shoot floaters and she can finish so many ways it's hard to pick one thing about her and stop it."

Idaho State led the game by as many as 15 and held the advantage for 38 of the 40 minutes.

"That might be one of the biggest wins we have had this year because they are such a good team," Sobolewski said. "They've got two potential first-team all-conference players in D'Shara Strange and Stephanie Lee. For us to show up and play better in the first half and win is big for us."

The Bears made a move in the second half closing the deficit to just one possession on three separate occasions. The Bengals would respond though with multiple pressure packed shots.

Grace Kenyon connected on a three from the top of the key with the lead at just two.  After UNC answered with a jumper of their own to make the score 62-59, senior point guard Jasmine Lemon maneuvered through a sea of opposing jerseys to hit a tough reverse layup and keep the lead for ISU.

"I thought Jasmine was really assertive today," Sobolewski said. "She hit some clutch shots."

"I felt like our team came out with a lot of intensity tonight and worked really hard," Lemon said. "We really tried to go by the game plan and do everything coach wanted us to do. The hard work got us the win tonight."

Four players finished in double-figures for Idaho State led by Woods with 19 as well as Lemon (14), Kenyon (13) and Rebecca Schrimpsher (10).

The Bengals shot 48.1% (25-52) from the field while holding the Bears to just 37% (20-54).

 "In practice all week we were emphasizing defense," Kenyon said. "For us to hold them to 37% shooting is big for us."
Idaho State will continue Big Sky play Saturday afternoon when they welcome North Dakota to Pocatello.  Tip-off against the reigning conference champions is scheduled for 2 p.m. on the ICCU Court inside Reed Gym.

"It feels good to get this victory tonight but at the same time we have to stay humble," Woods said. "North Dakota is a really good basketball team and they are going to be a tough matchup on Saturday."