Idaho State Drops 83-62 Decision at Sacramento State

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SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The Idaho State women's basketball team fell at Sacramento State 83-62 Saturday afternoon at The Nest. The Bengals suffered a season-high tying 31 turnovers in the loss in which Sacramento State converted to 29 points over the course of the game.

"I thought we did a solid job the first two-and-a-half quarters," Head Coach Seton Sobolewski said. "The last quarter-and-a-half fatigue hurt us and Sac really took advantage of it. We had too many turnovers and gave up a few too many offensive rebounds."

Idaho State (11-12, 4-8 BSC) was led by junior guard Brooke Blair with 22 points to go along with eight rebounds which ties her career high. Senior forward Anna Policicchio added 12 points, seven boards and six blocks and senior guard Apiphany Woods hauled in a game-high and career-high 12 boards.

Sacramento State (9-14, 6-6 BSC) started early in the first as Maranne Johnson hit a three just six seconds after the tip. ISU responded, scoring six unanswered to take the early three-point lead. Nine seconds later, the Hornets tied it up six-all with another trey, this time from Adella Randle-El. The Bengals were unable to contain Sac State from three, giving up three more treys that led to a seven-point Hornet lead, 17-10 with 4:52 remaining. The momentum swung in ISU's favor following a jumper from Woods at the 3:28 mark which started an 8-2 run to finish the quarter that cut Sac State's lead to one, 21-20.

The back-and-forth play continued throughout the second quarter with neither team leading by more than three points. ISU headed into the break tied 33-all with the Hornets.

Despite the turnover woes Idaho State faced after committing 16 in the first half, the Bengals were able to contain the Hornets by forcing the host to shoot just 27 percent shooting from the field in the first half and just under their season shooting average for the game at 35.1 percent. However, Sac State's three-point shooting was critical down the stretch, as the Hornets sunk seven in the final 20 minutes for 21 of their 50 second-half points. Another 16 points came off of 15 second-half Bengal turnovers.

The Hornets' critical run started with 3:44 remaining in the third quarter as ISU committed a turnover which led to a three by Randle-El and a seven-point Hornets lead, 46-39. The Bengals would cut the lead to four points off a layup from sophomore forward Lindsay Brown with 1:42 remaining, but Sac State finished on a 5-2 to take the nine point lead, 54-45 heading into the fourth.

The Bengals committed three-straight turnovers to start the fourth which led to eight-straight points for the home squad and a 17-point lead, 62-45. Blair broke ISU's scoring drought with a jumper at the 8:01 mark, but the Hornets would outscore the Bengals 13-7 over the next 4:45 to gain a 21-point advantage with 3:16 remaining. Idaho State matched the Hornets the remainder of the game and fell 83-62.

Idaho State returns home to face Northern Arizona Feb. 18 at 7 p.m. at Reed Gym.

NOTES
- ISU's 20-point first quarter scoring output is the largest since scoring 21 points against Portland State in Pocatello on Jan. 16. It's only the third time this season the Bengals have put up 20 or more points in the first quarter.
- The Bengals out-rebounded the Hornets 56-47. This is the sixth time this season that the Bengals have out-rebounded their opponent in a loss.
- Policicchio's six blocks brings her career total to 127, four blocks shy of fourth place all time in ISU history.
- Woods' 12 rebounds is a new career-high for the senior. This is the third game and second-straight that Woods has reached double-figure rebounds.