Women's Basketball Falls at Northern Colorado

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GREELEY, Colo. – The Idaho State women's basketball team lost 48-47 at Northern Colorado Thursday evening in Greeley, Colo. in a game that came down to the final  few possessions.

Facing a seven-point deficit with 4:18 remaining, Idaho State (7-6, 0-2 BSC) stormed back behind two consecutive big plays from senior forward Anna Policicchio. Policicchio hit a layup followed by a three-point play when she finished the fast-break layup in traffic after the steal from junior guard Freya Newton. Policicchio's three-point play capped a 5-0 Bengal run to bring ISU within two, 45-43.

Both teams were scoreless over the next 1:41, but a foul from freshman guard Isabel Vara de Rey put UNC's Savannah Smith at the line. Smith hit 1-of-2 to give Northern Colorado (6-7, 1-2 BSC) a three-point lead, 46-43, with 1:01 remaining. On the ensuing possession, Policicchio muscled her way in for the offensive rebound, getting fouled in the process and earning a trip to the charity stripe. Policicchio converted both free throws to cut UNC's lead to one, 46-45, with 42 seconds left.

The Bears were unable to score on their next possession, and again Policchio came up big on the boards for the Bengals with a defensive rebound for her eighth of the night. ISU wound the clock down to the final five seconds when Vara de Rey sunk the go-ahead jumper for the 47-46 lead with five seconds to go.

Northern Colorado called a quick 30-second timeout and converted its final shot of the evening, gaining the one-point advantage over ISU. With three seconds left, ISU was unable to get a final shot up and fell to Northern Colorado, 48-47.

Idaho State controlled the first half, shooting 53.8 percent from the field and dominating the boards with a 19-11 advantage. Four players had five or more points a half, led by junior guard Brooke Blair with 10, and the Bengals cruised to the 34-22 halftime advantage.

However, ISU scored just two points in the third quarter, fueling an 11-2 UNC run that cut the Bengals' 12-point lead to three heading into the final quarter.

Northern Colorado followed its third-quarter run with a 50 percent shooting effort in the fourth to outscore the Bengals 26-13 in the second half.

"For as well as we played offensively in the first half, that's how bad we played in the second half offensively," Head Coach Seton Sobolewski said. "We were able to make it interesting in the end, but poor shooting for the half really hurt us."

The Bengals were led by Policicchio with 13 points and a game-high eight rebounds. Blair also finished in double-figures with 10.

The Bears finished with two players in double-figures with Rebecca Howell scoring 14 and Kianna Williams chipping in 10.

The Bengals are back in action Jan. 9 at North Dakota at 1 p.m. MST.