Women's Basketball Earns 71-67 Road Win at Southern Utah

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CEDAR CITY, Utah – The Idaho State women's basketball team converted down the stretch to hold off the Southern Utah Thunderbirds 71-67 Thursday evening at the Centum Arena. The Bengals finished with four players in double-figures for their third-straight win.

Senior forward Anna Policicchio scored ISU's final six points en route to a team- and season-high tying 19 points. Senior guard Apiphany Woods added 16 points and six rebounds, sophomore forward Lindsay Brown added a career-high 15 points off a career-high three three's and junior guard Brooke Blair added 11 points with a career-high six assists.

"I'm really proud of our toughness tonight," Head Coach Seton Sobolewski said. "We had to overcome a lot of different factors."

Woods opened the first quarter with an easy jumper just six seconds after the tip for a short-lived two-point as SUU sunk a jumper 90 seconds later. This back-and-forth play continued for the entirety of the game which featured 14 ties and 12 lead changes. Neither team was able to pull ahead by more than six points. At the end of the first 10 minutes, ISU claimed a 17-14 lead following a final jumper from senior forward Tressa Lyman.

ISU was held scoreless over the first 3:43 minutes into the second quarter until Brown hit one of her three three's to put ISU up by four points, 20-16. Policicchio followed up with another jumper to give ISU its largest lead of the game at six points, 22-16. The Thunderbirds retaliated with an 8-0 run to erase ISU's lead and put the Bengals behind by two points, 24-22. SUU finished the quarter with two free throws to put the Bengals behind by one point at the half, 29-28.

The Bengals never led in the third quarter despite tying the score twice. Idaho State was able to regain the lead after the game's 12th tie in the fourth quarter following a layup from Policicchio. The Bengals never relinquished their lead in the fourth, converting 9-of-11 at the line to keep the Thunderbirds at bay. Policicchio sealed the win with the final six points, giving ISU the 71-67 victory.

"I'm especially proud of Anna Lee and Apiphany," Sobolewski said. "They both went down with injuries and sucked it up, played and made great plays down the stretch."

Idaho State is back in action Jan. 30 at 6:30 p.m. at Northern Arizona.