Box Score PDFEVANSTON, Ill. – The Idaho State women's basketball team fell 72-36 at No. 20 Northwestern Thursday evening at the Welsh-Ryan Arena in Evanston ,Ill. The game was the first of a five for the Bengals in one of the longest road trips for the program in recent years.
Senior forward
Anna Policicchio led the Bengals with eight points and six rebounds to go along with two blocks and two assists. Senior guard
Apiphany Woods finished with eight,and junior guard
Brooke Blair chipped in six with a team-high seven rebounds.
The first quarter was rough for the Bengals as NU raced out to a 20-5. ISU struggled to knock down shots and scored its first field goal with 1:02 left in the first. In the second quarter, the Bengals warmed up a bit and knocked down two back-to-back layups from Blair and Policicchio to chip away at NU's lead. Idaho State nearly matched NU's production in the second, scoring 11 to the Wildcats' 14, and headed into halftime facing a 34-16 deficit.
"I thought our defensive game plan was good," said Head Coach
Seton Sobolewski. "We held them to 35 percent shooting in the first half, but I thought we didn't finish off our defensive possessions with rebounds."
The Bengals were outrebounded 29-19 in the first half and gave up 15 offensive rebounds, leading to several additional possessions for NU. The second half the Bengals had a bit more control on the glass, grabbing 18 boards to NU's 24 while giving up eight offensive rebounds. Despite their increased effort on the boards, ISU struggled to score and shot 26.9 percent for the game.
"Our offensive execution was not good," said Sobolewski. "We were tentative."
Three Wildcats finished in double-figures, led by guard Maggie Lyon with a game-high 18 points. Ashley Deary finished with 17 and Nia Coffey chipped in 16 with a game-high 18 rebounds.
The Bengals have another shot at a ranked opponent Saturday as they travel to East Lansing, Mich. to face No. 23 Michigan State at 10 a.m. MST.
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