Bengals Storm Back But Fall to Eagles

CHENEY, Washington – A slow start and a double-digit deficit did not deter the Idaho State women's basketball team as the Bengals (13-15, 8-9 BSC) battled back only to fall just short 62-58 to Eastern Washington (18-10, 11-6 BSC) Thursday night at Reese Court.

"I thought our effort was great tonight," Head Coach Seton Sobolewski said. "Not everything went perfect but I thought we played well especially defensively in the second half."

The Bengals started the game just 1-10 from the field and managed only two points in the first 7:30.  The home team took advantage and carried a 33-25 lead into the half-time break.

The margin would swell to as many as ten early in the second half but the orange and black would not go away. ISU outscored EWU 14-5 over a ten and a half minute stretch capped off by a three-pointer from forward Apiphany Woods that gave the visitors their first lead of the evening at 49-48 with just 4:59 remaining in the game.

"It's impressive what she (Woods) has done from the three-point line lately," Sobolewski said. "She is a really good player and we will keep finding even better ways to use her in our offense."

The Bengal lead would be short lived as the Eagles immediately responded with a three-point play from Jade Redmon and then a three-point shot from Hayley Hodgins to tip the advantage back in their favor.

ISU would close the gap to just two points with 51 seconds remaining but a jumper from Melissa Williams and a missed shot on the offensive end would seal the win for Eastern Washington.

 "We gave ourselves a chance to win here against a really good team. We played really hard tonight," Sobolewski said.

Apiphany Woods led four players in double-figures with 20 points and six rebounds. Jasmine Lemon added 13 points while Anna Lee Policicchio and Megan Hochstein finished with 10 each.  Hochstein has missed just one shot (7-8 FG and 6-6 FT) in the past two games while reaching the ten-point plateau in each contest.

"She (Hochstein) is going to be a really good player," Sobolewski said. "We are really excited about her and her future here at Idaho State. I am happy for her and happy to see how well she is producing this late in the season."

The Bengals will play their final game of the regular season Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m. MST at the University of Idaho.  The Bengals currently hold a one-game lead on the Vandals for the eighth and final spot in the Big Sky tournament.

ISU will qualify for the post-season tournament if any of the four results happen. A victory over Idaho, Montana defeating Montana State,  Northern Colorado beating North Dakota or Weber State defeating Eastern Washington. If all off those games go in the opposite direction then the Bengals will be left out.


BIG SKY STANDINGS

School	Conf	Pct	Overall	Home	Away	Streak
Montana ^*	14-3	0.824	21-7	12-2	8-3	W4
Sacramento State *	12-5	0.706	14-14	9-2	5-12	W3
Eastern Washington *	11-6	0.647	18-10	11-2	6-8	W1
Northern Colorado *	11-6	0.647	17-11	9-4	7-7	W7
North Dakota *	9-8	0.529	17-12	11-2	5-10	L3
Northern Arizona *	9-8	0.529	13-15	11-5	2-10	W1
Montana State *	8-9	0.471	14-14	10-3	3-11	W2
Idaho State	8-9	0.471	13-15	9-5	3-9	L1
Idaho	7-10	0.412	13-15	7-4	5-11	W1
Southern Utah	6-11	0.353	13-14	10-5	3-8	L1
Weber State	6-11	0.353	11-17	7-8	4-8	L5
Portland State	1-16	0.059	3-25	2-11	1-14	L13