ISU Thwarts Last-Second Attempt for 58-57 Victory at Weber State

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OGDEN, Utah – The Idaho State women's basketball team outlasted Weber State, thwarting the Wildcats last-second attempt for the 58-57 victory at the Dee Events Center in Ogden, Utah Saturday afternoon. Idaho State shot a season-best 60 percent from the field to escape with its second one-point victory in as many games for the first time since 1992.

ISU (9-8, 2-4 BSC) finished with three players in double figures, led by senior guard Apiphany Woods with 13 points, six rebounds and five assists. Senior forward Anna Policicchio finished with 12 points, junior guard Brooke Blair chipped in 10 points with four assists and senior forward Tressa Lyman tied her season-high with eight.

"I'm really happy with the intensity and effort we showed today," Head Coach Seton Sobolewski said. "We really stepped up."

The Bengals started the afternoon with a 5-0 run behind a trey from Blair and an easy layup from Policicchio in the paint. Weber State (12-5, 4-2 BSC) answered with a 5-0 run of its own, tying the game at five-all nearly halfway through the first quarter. Neither team led by more than three points in the first 10 minutes, and ISU broke a 16-all tie with a layup from Lyman to head into the second with a two-point buffer.

The back-and-forth play continued for the second as the first half featured six ties and seven lead changes. The Bengals were on fire from the field, shooting 62 percent from the field and an incredible 67 percent from beyond-the-arc, but 16 first-half turnovers prevented ISU from pulling away. Junior Freya Newton sunk a jumper off an inbounds play with 4:50 left to put ISU up by three points, 26-23, but Weber State would finish the half on an 11-4 run to claim the 34-30 lead heading into the break.

The Bengals exploded in the third quarter, starting off with a 13-2 run to gain their largest lead of the game at nine points, 45-36 with 2:51 remaining. Idaho State controlled the ball in the third, committing just three turnovers, and shot 69.2 percent from the field to fuel its run. Weber State responded and hit two threes to close the quarter and cut ISU's lead to four, 49-45.

ISU opened the fourth with a steal from Woods, who converted 1-of-2 at the line after a WSU foul. The Bengals followed that up with a jumper from Blair and an easy layup from Policicchio to give ISU a seven-point lead, 54-47 with 5:46 left. However, the next 3:58 ISU was held scoreless while WSU capped an 8-0 run to take the lead 55-54 with 1:48 remaining. Woods broke the scoring drought with a pair free throws at the 1:18 mark put ISU in front 56-55. A layup by the senior just 11 seconds later gave the Bengals a three-point lead 58-55.

However, ISU wasn't out of the woods yet, as a Bengal foul with 49 seconds to go put WSU's Dionne Coe, a 30 percent free throw shooter on the season, on the line. Coe sunk both, cutting ISU's lead to one, 58-57. With 14 seconds remaining, the Wildcats committed their fifth foul to send Woods to the line. Woods missed both opportunities, giving WSU a final attempt at the win. WSU's Deeshyra Thomas had a quality attempt as the final seconds wound down but was unable to convert, giving ISU the 58-57 win.

"The first half was a little ugly with the 16 unforced turnovers, but I thought the girls made great adjustments in the second," Sobolewski said. "We shot the ball well and had several close shots. We attribute that to good ball movement and finding the open teammate."

Three players finished in double figures for Weber State, led by Regina Okoye with 17 points to go along with six rebounds and three steals.

Idaho State is back in action at Southern Utah Jan. 28 at 7 p.m. in Cedar City, Utah.

Notes
- Idaho State 60 percent field goal percentage is the highest this season and the Bengal's best shooting effort since shooting 52.6 percent back-to-back against Seattle Dec. 5 and Utah State Dec. 8.
- Anna Policicchio moves into sixth all-time in career blocked shots, surpassing Natalie Doma with 111 total career blocked shots.
- This is the fifth time this season and second-straight game that Apiphany Woods has recorded five or more assists. This is the eighth game this season she has recorded at least four.
- This is the first time since the 1991-92 season that the Bengals have won back-to-back games by one point after defeating Portland State 71-70 on Jan. 16. The last time ISU won back-to-back games by one point was a 74-73 win at Northern Arizona Jan. 4, 1992 followed by a 64-63 at Nevada on Jan. 9, 1992.