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POCATELLO, Idaho – The Idaho State women's basketball team picked up its first win of the season Saturday evening with a 65-54 victory over visiting UC Irvine at the ICCU Court at Reed Gym. It was a face-paced wild contest, but the Bengals did what they needed to do to come out on top.
"First impression is that might rank as one of the top five worst games I've ever seen played in Reed Gym," Head Coach
Seton Sobolewski said. "It was ugly. We looked wild, we looked out-of-control, we didn't look like we can handle pressure and we just didn't have any composure tonight."
Despite its lack of composure throughout the contest, Idaho State (1-2) bested UC Irvine (0-4) in every single statistical category. The Bengals finished with three players in double figures led by sophomore guard
Grace Kenyon with 14. Sophomore guard
Isabel Vara de Rey added 12 and freshman guard
Estefania Ors chipped in 10 to go along with a game-high four assists and six rebounds.
"That's a pretty solid line for a freshman," Sobolewski said.
It took a few possessions for the Bengals to get going in the first quarter as the Anteaters raced out to a 10-2 advantage. Idaho State had an answer in Kenyon who scored seven straight to cut UCI's lead to four, 13-9. A trey from senior guard
Freya Newton and a layup from Ors tied the game 16-all to close the first quarter.
Idaho State took off in the second pouring in 21 points shooting 64.3 percent on 9-of-14 from the floor. The Bengals offensive spark started with a layup from junior forward
Lindsay Brown to give ISU its first lead of the game, 18-16. A trey from Brown less than 25 seconds later gave the Bengals a five point lead, but the Anteaters responded with a 5-0 run to tie the game 21-all.
Over the next 4:20, Idaho State outscored UC Irvine 12-5 for its largest lead of the first half, 33-26. The Bengals hit two more jumpers to close the quarter and headed into the half with a 37-31 advantage.
In the third quarter, UC Irvine was more efficient as the Anteaters shot 42.9 percent to ISU's 27.8 percent, yet the Bengals out-rebounded UCI 14-9, including a 5-0 advantage on the offensive glass. ISU took advantage of its second chance opportunities and scored five of its 15 third-quarter points off offensive boards. At the end of the third, ISU held a seven point advantage, 52-45.
The fourth quarter came down to ISU's ability to convert at the free throw line and its dominating 17-8 performance on the glass. The Bengals went ice cold in the final quarter, shooting just 13.3 percent from the floor, but they were able to convert 8-of-10 from the line to maintain their lead. UCI scored nine points in the final quarter, six from beyond-the-arc, but it was not enough to challenge ISU's lead. The Bengals led by as many as 14 in the fourth, but a late trey from UCI's Irene Chavez gave the Bengals the 11-point victory, 65-54.
The Anteaters finished with two players in double figures led by Teirra Hicks with 14. Sabrina Engelstad added 10 points before fouling out early in the fourth quarter.
Idaho State hits the road for the next five games, starting with the 2016 Women's Cancun Challenge in Cancun, Mexico Nov. 24 and Nov. 25. The Bengals face James Madison at 4:30 p.m. MST on Thanksgiving Day, followed by Davidson at 2 p.m. MST on Friday, Nov. 25.
NOTES
- Freshman Estefania Ors scored in double-figures for the third-straight game. Coming into tonight's contest, she ranked seventh in the Big Sky in points per game with a 17.0 per game average.
- Sophomore Grace Kenyon tallied nearly a double-double for the second straight game. She currently averages 11.3 points and 7.3 rebounds per contest.
- Idaho State improves to 5-1 all-time against UC Irvine.
