Women's Basketball | 11/5/2016 6:05:00 PM
POCATELLO, Idaho – The Idaho State women's basketball team returned for the 2016-17 season in style, downing Alaska 88-46 Saturday afternoon at Reed Gym in its lone exhibition game of the season. The Bengals scored with ease, shooting nearly 48.6 percent from the floor including 37.5 percent from beyond-the-arc.
Four Bengals finished in double-figures led by senior guard
Brooke Blair with 20. Sophomore guard
Grace Kenyon finished with 13 points and a game-high 11 rebounds for the lone double-double of the game while freshman guard
Bianca Thacker and junior forward
Lindsay Brown added 13 and 10 respectively.
"I think we learned today that our bench can contribute, even more than I originally thought," said Head Coach
Seton Sobolewski. "And we need to work on our rebounding. We have to rebound the ball a little bit better."
In the first period, Idaho State raced out to an eight-point advantage behind eight points from Blair, but the Bengals struggled to keep the momentum as Alaska scored seven-straight to cut the lead to one, 12-11. Idaho State connected on just 7-of-22 attempts in the first quarter and relinquished the lead 15-14 temporarily following two Nanook free throws with 38 seconds remaining. Sophomore
Saylair Grandon finished in the paint with 15 second remaining to give ISU the 16-15 lead at the end of the first.
The Bengals came alive in the second, outscoring Alaska 24-4 behind a nine-point explosion from freshman
Bianca Thacker. The Bengals forced the Nanooks to shoot just 15.4 percent in the second quarter and cruised to the 40-19 halftime lead.
In the second half, Idaho State shot 53 percent from the field for 48 second-half points. Of the 11 Bengals that saw the floor in the second half, 10 scored with three players contributing eight or more points. Idaho State extended its lead to as many as 44 in the second half and cruised to the 88-46 win.
"As a coach, [having so many offensive threats] makes you feel a little bit more comfortable on the offensive side," Sobolewski said. "If you have someone who has a bad night, someone else will be able to fill their shoes."
Two players finished in double figures for Alaska led by Jordan Wilson with 14. Wilson also led the Nanooks on the boards with seven.
Idaho State opens the season on the road on Nov. 11 as it travels to Santa Clara, Calif. to take on the Broncos of Santa Clara at 2 p.m. MST.
