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POCATELLO, Idaho – The Idaho State women's basketball team survived a gritty Utah Valley squad 61-56 Tuesday evening in its final nonconference game of the season. The Bengals extended their win streak to four after having held off a late fourth-quarter rally by the Wolverines.
Three players finished in double-figures for Idaho State led by sophomore guard
Grace Kenyon with 14 points on 6-for-10 shooting, while junior forward
Lindsay Brown added a season-high 12 points off 4-of-6 from the field while sophomore guard
Saylair Grandon chipped in 10. As a squad, the Bengals shot 41.7 percent from the floor and out-rebounded the Wolverines 36-35.
"I thought we performed pretty well tonight," Head Coach
Seton Sobolewski said. "I thought we shot the ball better than we normally have, and it's nice to see Lindsay shoot at a nice percentage and Grace shoot the ball at a better percentage. I thought we handled their pressure and their trapping well."
Utah Valley (3-10) played the majority of the game in zone and would double the ball on the low block nearly every time the ball was entered into the low post. Idaho State (6-5) kept its composure throughout and moved the ball effectively for the best shot. In the first quarter, the Bengals shot 50 percent from the floor and converted 4-or-5 free throws to lead 20-18 after the first 10 minutes.
In the second quarter, ISU's defense held Utah Valley to just four points off 1-of-12 from the floor. Meanwhile, the Bengals capitalized on the Wolverines' struggles, netting 14 points and hauling in 15 rebounds including three offensive boards that led to six second-chance points. By the end of the second, the Bengals held a comfortable 12-point lead.
Coming out of the break, ISU extended its lead to 13 following a layup from Kenyon at the 7:40 mark and a free throw from Grandon nearly a minute later. But an 8-0 Wolverine run cut ISU's lead to five, 37-32, with 3:55 remaining in the third. The Bengals responded and converted three of their next five attempts to gain a nine-point lead with 1:02 remaining. Two consecutive free throws from Grandon with seven seconds remaining gave the Bengals a double-digit lead at 11, 46-35. Yet ISU was unable to contain UVU's Mariah Seals on the ensuing possession and a foul put her at the line with one second remaining. Seals converted one-of-two free throws to cut the lead to 10 heading into the final quarter.
Utah Valley took control in the fourth quarter, outscoring the Bengals 20-15 including an 11-3 edge at the charity stripe. All six of ISU's fourth-quarter fouls put the Wolverines at the line, and a 91.7 percent shooting effort from the Wolverines helped to chip away at ISU's lead.
With 7:05 remaining, the Bengals earned their largest lead of the night at 16 following a trey from sophomore guard
Isabel Vara de Rey, but six-straight free throws courtesy of UVU's Taylor Gordon in addition to a seventh from Sam Lubcke brought the Wolverines within nine with 4:26 remaining. A layup from Brown at the 3:13 mark gave ISU an 11-point buffer, but Utah Valley scored seven unanswered over the next 2:15 to cut the lead to four, 56-52.
Twenty-two seconds later, freshman
Estefania Ors sunk a huge trey to make it a three-possession game, and the Bengals made two of the next four free throws to keep the Wolverines at bay.
"We've been working on a few things, and I think it's starting to come together," Sobolewski said. "In practice, in film sessions, we are working on shooting, we are working on finishing; we are watching film to see where we can correct a few things."
Utah Valley was led by junior guard Taylor Gordon with a game-high 21 points. Junior guard Mariah Seals netted 19 while junior center Sam Lubcke chipped in 12 with a game-high nine rebounds.
Idaho State will take a short break for the winter holidays but returns to the hardwood Dec. 29 for its conference opener against Montana. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. at the ICCU Court at Reed Gym.
NOTES
- After not recording a positive assist-to-turnover ratio the through the first nine games, the Bengals notched their second-straight game with a positive ratio. Against Utah Valley, Idaho State collected 16 assists with season-low 11 turnovers, while the Bengals finished with a season-high 19 assists with just 12 turnovers against Montana Tech on Dec. 19.
- With her team-high 14 points, Grace Kenyon reached double-figures for the fourth-straight game and the eighth time this season. Kenyon now averages 11.5 points per game to go along with her team-high 7.3 boards.
- Along with her fourth double-digit scoring effort of her career with 10 points, Saylair Grandon also dished out a team- and career-high five assists.
- For the 10th time this season, Idaho State has out-rebounded its opponent. After Tuesday's Big Sky action, the Bengals rank first in rebounding defense at 34.9 per game and rank second in rebounding margin at +5.6.
