Senior Day Special, Bengals Down Wildcats in Crucial Game

PHOTO GALLERY

POCATELLO, Idaho – The two Idaho State seniors each made big plays down the stretch as the Bengals (13-14, 8-8) held off Weber State 63-56 Saturday afternoon on the Idaho Central Credit Union Court inside Reed Gym.

Jasmine Lemon's driving layup helped ignite the crowd then with the Bengals leading by just five and 30 seconds left Rebecca Schrimpsher stepped in front of a WSU pass to steal the ball and seal the game on Senior Day.

"I think it epitomizes their careers," Head Coach Seton Sobolewski said of the two seniors. "They are both really good players and they were both great representatives of our university and our program.  I am really happy for them."

"It was a fun and enjoyable game," Schrimpsher said of her final home game. "We played great as a team. Our mentality was different today. We were able to keep them off the offensive boards better in this game. We learned from the mistakes we made in the last game against them."

The Bengals led the game from start to finish but Weber State made a move in the second half cutting a 13-point lead down to just one possession.  ISU made their free-throws down the stretch and then got the steal from Schrimpsher to avenge the loss to Weber State from earlier in the season and keep their hopes of making the Big Sky Conference tournament alive."I think we shot the ball a little bit better than the last game against them," Sobolewski said.  "I thought our defense was significantly better and our rebounding was a little better."

Apiphany Woods led four players in double-figures with 14 points and five rebounds. Anna Lee Policicchio (13 points and five rebounds), Rebecca Schrimpsher (10 points) and Megan Hochstein (10 points) each reached the same plateau.

"We wanted to pay Weber back for the tough loss we had at their house," Woods said. "We wanted to go out there and play hard and play for our seniors."

Idaho State limited Weber State to just 38.5% shooting for the game and just 23 points in the first half. The Bengals had an assist on 12 of their 18 field goals.   

"It was a big deal for us to honor our seniors and let them go out the right way," Sobolewski said.

ISU closes out the regular season with a pair of home games next week.  They travel to Eastern Washington on Thursday before taking on the University of Idaho on Saturday. The Bengals find themselves in seventh place with the top eight teams making the post-season tournament.
 
GAME NOTES
The Bengals are 62-18 at home over the last six seasons.

The score was nearly identical to the last time the two teams met in Ogden. Weber State won that game 63-57. The Bengals defeated the Wildcats 63-56 today.