Women's Basketball Hosts Northern Arizona Thursday

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POCATELLO, Idaho – The Idaho State women's basketball team hosts Northern Arizona Feb. 18 at 7 p.m. at the ICCU Court in Reed Gym in the first of ISU's final four home games. The Bengals are looking to split conference games with the visiting Lumberjacks after NAU snuck past the Bengals 63-62 in Flagstaff in late January.

SCOUTING NORTHERN ARIZONA
Northern Arizona carries a 6-18 overall record with a 2-11 mark in conference play. The Lumberjacks sit in 10th place in conference, one game ahead of Portland State.

This season, NAU is averaging 63.2 points per game with 40.5 rebounds per game while shooting 38.2 percent from the floor. The 'Jacks are led by freshman forward Alyssa Rader who nearly averages a double-double with 13.7 points per contest and 9.1 rebounds. Rader ranks ninth in scoring and third in rebounding in the conference. Junior Rene Coggins also averages double figures for NAU with 11.4 points per game.

In the last meeting, the Bengals held a six-point lead, 58-52, with just over six minutes remaining. A jumper by Brooke Blair extended that lead to 8 with 4:20 remaining, but the Bengals suffered a detrimental scoring drought as they were unable to score a field goal for the remainder of the game. NAU scored nine straight to gain the one-point lead, 63-62 with 26 seconds remaining. A last-second ISU attempt fell short, giving the victory to the Lumberjacks.

Northern Arizona is coached by Head Coach Sue Darling.

SERIES REVIEW: NAU COMING ON STRONG
Idaho State has controlled the overall series against Northern Arizona, leading 36-28, and has won seven of the last 10 games, including three of the last five. However, NAU has come on strong as of late, winning the last two straight.

A LOOK BACK: THIS DATE IN HISTORY
This is the 12th time in program history that the Bengals have played on Feb. 18. ISU carries a 9-2 record on this date, with its only two losses coming against Weber State during the 1988-89 season and Montana during the 2006-07 season. This will be the second time in program history that the Bengals have played NAU on Feb. 18. The last time, ISU defeated the 'Jacks 69-61 at home during the 1994-95 season.

CRASHING THE BOARDS
The Bengals have out-rebounded their opponent seven times during conference play and has grabbed more boards in each of their last three games. Idaho State ranks third in the conference in rebounding margin, and has outrebounded its opponents by an average of 3.7 rebounds per game. Senior guard Apiphany Woods has been crashing hard for the Bengals as of late, averaging 11.0 rebounds per game over the last two games.

FIELD GOAL PERCENTAGE CLOSE-UP
During conference play, ISU has limited all but two of its Big Sky opponents to under 40 percent shooting from the field. The Bengals rank fourth in the conference in field goal percentage defense, forcing their opponents to an average of 37.0 percent shooting. ISU ranks second in three-point field goal percentage defense, forcing opponents into shooting an average of 28.4 percent from beyond-the-arc. The Bengals are also one of the best shooting teams in the conference, shooting an average of 41.3 percent from the floor, good for fifth in the conference.

INSIDE DOMINANCE
In each of ISU's last eight games, the Bengals have outscored their opponent in the paint; over the last eight games, the Bengals have outscored their opponents 234-146 inside including a lopsided 32-14 margin against Northern Colorado on Feb. 6.

LIMITING OPPORTUNITIES
In conference play, the Bengals are limiting their opponents to an average of 60.4 points per contest, the lowest conference average since the 2012-13 season in which they limited opponents to just 54.5 points per game. However, ISU is averaging just 58.2 points per game, the lowest conference scoring average for the Bengals since the 2008-09 season in which they averaged 61.8 points per game.

TOO CLOSE FOR COMFORT
So far this season, the Bengals have played in 10 games decided by five points or less and nine games decided by three points or less. ISU carries a 5-5 record in games decided by five points or less and a 4-5 record in games decided by three points or less. ISU has been part of a school-record five games decided by one point this season, winning three. Seven of ISU's last eight games have been decided by four points or less.

Idaho State has played in the most games decided by five points or less in conference play, carrying a 3-5 record in those games. Northern Colorado is the next closest team in conference play with five-point games, playing in six with a 3-3 record so far.