Women's Basketball Comes Up Short in Thanksgiving Classic Championship

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EL PASO, Texas – The Idaho State women's basketball team concluded its five-game road trip with a 67-54 loss at UTEP in the championship game of the fifth-annual Thanksgiving Classic, hosted by UTEP at the Don Haskins Center in El Paso, Texas.

The Bengals were led by seniors Apiphany Woods and Anna Policicchio who finished with 18 and 16 points respectively. Woods also recorded a team-high four assists, while junior Brooke Blair pulled down a team-high seven rebounds in 32 minutes of play.

The Bengals, who finished with their second-highest shooting percentage of the season at 43.4 percent and outrebounded UTEP 39-29, were plagued with 22 turnovers to UTEP's nine and fell victim to 14 Miners' steals which ended up being the difference-maker in the long run.

"The story with this one is our turnover and UTEP's steals," said Head Coach Seton Sobolewski. "They have a very quick team. We shot the ball well enough in the second half but didn't get enough attempts."

At the end of the first 10 minutes, ISU was tied with the UTEP 14-all. The Bengals were scoring at-will in the paint, gaining a 10-2 advantage over the Miners within the key. In the second, UTEP started with an 11-5 run to gain a six-point lead, 25-19, the largest for either team at that point. UTEP's Cameasha Turner sunk two baskets within a minute to extend the Miners' lead to 10 with 45 seconds left in the first half, but ISU's Policicchio converted two free throws to prevent a double-digit deficit heading into the break.

Policicchio made her mark in the first half scoring 10 points on 4-of-5 shooting in the first 20 minutes, but it was Woods who took over for the Bengals in the second, scoring 13 of her 18 points off 6-of-8 shooting in the final 20 minutes.  

The third quarter started with a jumper from Woods to bring the Bengals within nine, 39-30, but UTEP countered with a steal by Turner, a jumper by Starr Breedlove and a three from Jenzel Nash to extend the Miners' lead to 12, 44-32 with 7:14 left in the third. Woods responded, scoring back-to-back baskets within a minute of each other to bring the Bengals within seven, 46-39, with just over four minutes left in the third. Blair contributed two baskets over the final two minutes to bring ISU within six, 49-43, heading into the fourth quarter.

A quick jumper by Woods at the start of the fourth brought the Bengals within striking distance, 49-45, but a 5-0 run from the Miners' put the Bengals in a nine-point hole. Sophomore Juliet Jones found Woods for a three to make it a two possession game, 54-48, but the Miners again responded, this time with a 9-2 run to extend their lead to 15, 65-50 with less than three minutes remaining. ISU chipped away but was unable to recover from the deficit and fell to the Miners 67-54.

"I'm proud of our team and how hard we fought," Sobolewski said.

Nash led the Miners with a game-high 26 points to go along with seven rebound and four assists. Turner and Breedlove also finished with double-figures with 12 and 11 points respectively.  

Woods was named to the Thanksgiving Classic All-Tournament team following her performances against UTEP and Southeast Missouri. SEMO's Olivia Hackman, UC Riverside's Brittany Crain and UTEP's Breedlove and Nash were also named to the all-tournament team.

After six games, the Bengals sit at 2-4 after playing the No. 2 toughest schedule in the nation, according to Jeff Sagarin's RPI ratings. ISU returns home for a Dec. 5 matchup against Seattle at 2 p.m. at the ICCU Court at Reed Gym.