Women's Basketball Heads to Montana for Final Conference Road Trip

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POCATELLO, Idaho – The Idaho State women's basketball team heads north for its final conference road trip of the season, making stops at Montana and Montana State. The Bengals tip off at 7 p.m. against Montana at Dahlberg Arena in Missoula, Mont.

SCOUTING MONTANA
Montana carries a 16-9 overall record with a 9-5 mark in conference play, good for fifth place. The Griz, who were picked to finish first in the conference in both the coaches and media polls, have won five straight including a 70-66 win over league-leading Montana State Feb. 20.

This season, Montana is averaging 68.9 points per game and 40.8 rebounds while shooting 41.5 percent from the field. The Griz are led by preseason all-conference selection Kayleigh Valley who averages 20.9 points and 7.1 rebounds per game and shoots 52.9 percent from the field. McCalle Feller, another preseason selection, averages 17.3 points per game.

Idaho State last played the Griz in the quarterfinals of the Big Sky Conference championships last season in Missoula. The Bengals nearly upended the Griz after a furious second-half comeback, fueled by a career-high 32 points from Woods, fell just short giving UM the 69-67 win.

Montana is coached by Head Coach Robin Selvig.

SERIES REVIEW: GRIZ DOMINATION
Since 1978, Idaho State has won just eight games against the conference-dominant Montana. Overall, Montana leads the series 69-8 and has won the last seven games.

A LOOK BACK: THIS DATE IN HISTORY
This is the eighth time in program history that the Bengals have played on Feb. 25. ISU carries a 3-4 overall record on this date; the Bengals won their last game on this date with a 63-50 win at Eastern Washington during the 2011-12 season.

SENIORS SHINE
Senior forward Anna Policicchio currently ranks fourth all-time in ISU history for blocked shots with 135. She is three blocks shy of surpassing Kelly Palmer for third place all-time. Policicchio is also closing in on the 800-point career scoring mark; she is currently 16 points shy of 800. Senior guard Apiphany Woods is also closing in on the 800-point career scoring mark with 783 career points.

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 third in the conference in field goal percentage defense, forcing their opponents to an average of 36.7 percent shooting. ISU ranks second in three-point field goal percentage defense, forcing opponents into shooting an average of 28.1 percent from beyond-the-arc.

CRASHING THE BOARDS
The Bengals have out-rebounded their opponent nine times during conference play and have grabbed more boards in each of their last five games. Idaho State ranks second in the conference in rebounding margin, and has outrebounded its opponents by an average of 4.2 rebounds per game.

LIMITING OPPORTUNITIES
In conference play, the Bengals are limiting their opponents to an average of 59.5 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 59.5 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. During a stretch from Jan. 7 to Feb. 6, the seven games were 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 seven with a 4-3 record so far.