Bengals Take on T-Birds in Valentine's Day Battle

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THIS WEEK IN IDAHO STATE BASKETBALL
This week marks the second time through the Big Sky schedule for Idaho State.  The rest of the season will feature match-ups against teams the Bengals have already faced this season. ISU travels to take on Southern Utah Saturday at 7 p.m. in Cedar City, Utah.

Mark Liptak will call the game live on KISU Radio. Live video will be available on  WatchBigSky.com and on the WatchBigSky app.

With six games left on the season the Bengals find themselves  tied for sixth place in the Big Sky standings. The top eight teams make the conference tournament.  ISU has qualifed for the post-season tournament in 11 consecutive seasons.

HEAD COACH SETON SOBOLEWSKI ON THE BIG SKY CONFERENCE
"It very competitive with a lot of coaches that know each other. Especially when you have situations where you have players who have been in the league for awhile. They understand the rivalries and the history of things.  They understand how they lost before and how they won before.  Coaches make adjustments and it's really competitive."

ABOUT SOUTHERN UTAH
The Thunderbirds defeated the Bengals 68-61 earlier this season in Pocatello.  Since that game enter SUU has dropped six of seven games including five straight. During that match-up Idaho State attempted (24) and made (8) a season-high in three-pointers.  

Southern Utah is led in scoring by Desiree Jackson (12.4 ppg). She was one of four players to score in double-figures in the meeting in January.

HEAD COACH SETON SOBOLEWSKI ON WHAT NEEDS TO IMPROVE DOWN THE STRETCH
"We are going to take it one game at a time and try to get better at the things we are struggling with. We have to play better defense. Weber State showed us we need to rebound a little better. We need to finish layups a little better. We are trying to get better in those areas and we think if we can do that we can be pretty tough."
 
EXECUTION DOWN THE STRETCH
The Bengals are 3-0 this season in games decided by one possession.  ISU has won 15 of their last 21 games in that category.

In games decided by five points or less they are 25-12 over that same span.

HIT THE BOARDS
The Bengals are 9-4 this season when they have equal or more rebounds then their the opponent but are just 2-8 when the other team has more rebounds.

MAGIC NUMBER IS 70
ISU is 6-1 when they score at least 70 points in a game this season.  They are 27-2 in the last four seasons when they reach that mark.

On the reverse side the Bengals are 0-7 when they allow 70 or more points this year and 12-52 under Coach Sobolewski when allowing 70+.

A WINNING NEW YEARS RESOLUTION
The Bengals finished the first month of 2015 with a 6-4 record.  It is the most wins in a month since the 2011-2012 team finished January with a perfect 8-0 mark and went on to win the Big Sky championship.

WORKING INSIDE
The Bengals have attempted and made the fewest amount of three-pointers in the Big Sky Conference this season.  They are third in overall field-goal percentage at 43.8%

DOUBLE-FIGURES FOR WOODS
Apiphany Woods has scored in double-figures in every game but six this season including a career-high 23 against Drake, Sacramento State and North Dakota.  

In Big Sky Conference games this season she is third in scoring at 17.6 ppg

1. Stacey Barr (Idaho) 20.3 PPG

2. Stephanie Lee (Northern Colorado) 18.5 PPG

3. Apiphany Woods (Idaho State) 17.6 PPG

The Chicago native leads all juniors in the Big Sky in points and field goal percentage.Woods has also led the Bengals in scoring in all but two conference games

She has shot over 50% in six of the 12 Big Sky games including over 70% three times.

BLOCK PARTY
Anna Lee Policicchio has blocked a shot in 18 of the last 20 games.  She had a  career-high five against the University of Houston and Utah Valley.

Her 48 blocks so far this season is tied for sixth in ISU single-season history.

1    Mandi Ortega    84    1996-97
2    Lori Heeter    71    1991-92
3    Mandi Ortega    69    1997-98
4    Mandi Carver    50    2001-02
    Mandi Carver    50    1999-00
6    Michelle Grohs    48    2008-09
    Anna Lee Policicchio    48    2014-15
8.    Cydney Horton    47    2011-12


She is just three away from entering the ISU top 10 for blocks in a career.

FAB FRESHMAN
Grace Kenyon is the top freshman in the Big Sky in scoring,rebounding and assists.

She has scored in double-figures in 12 of the last 15 games for ISU.  The Washington native has pulled down five or more rebounds in every game this year but three.
 
Kenyon is shooting 9-31 (29%) from three this season but is 4-5 (80%) on shots taken in the last three minutes of the game