Women's Basketball Looking to Upset League-Leading Montana State

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POCATELLO, Idaho – The Idaho State women's basketball team heads Bozeman, Mont. to face league-leading Montana State Saturday at 8 p.m. MST at Worthington Arena.

SCOUTING MONTANA STATE
Montana State currently carries a 20-6 record with a 13-2 mark in conference play, good for first place. The Bobcats cruised to a 92-71 win over visiting Weber State Thursday evening for their first 20-win season since 2002-03.

This season, Montana State is averaging 76.2 points per game and 40.5 rebounds while shooting 45.3 percent from the floor. The Bobcats are led by preseason all-conference selection Jasmine Hommes who averages 15.3 points and 5.5 rebounds. Peyton Ferris and Riley Nordgaard also average double-figures with 14.9 and 11.0 respectively.

The Bengals last played the Bobcats in the annual Play 4Kay Pink game last season in Pocatello. ISU knocked off MSU in overtime after senior Jasmine Lemon hit a buzzer-beating off-balance jumper to force the extra period. Idaho State outscored Montana State 18-5 in overtime to claim the 87-74 victory.

The Bobcats are coached by Head Coach Tricia Binford.

SERIES REVIEW: BENGAL SUCCESS
Although the Bobcats lead the overall series 33-41, the Bengals have been in control as of late, winning nine of the last 12 including the last six straight.

A LOOK BACK: THIS DATE IN HISTORY
This is the ninth time in program history that the Bengals have played on Feb. 27. ISU carries a 5-3 record on this date with its last victory coming during the 2013-14 season with a 72-65 win at Northern Arizona.

SENIORS SHINE
Senior forward Anna Policicchio tallied four blocks Thursday at Montana which moved her into third place all-time in ISU history for blocked shots. She surpassed Kelly Palmer (1984-89, 137 blocked shots) and now sits alone in third with 139 career blocked shots. Policicchio is also closing in on the 800-point career scoring mark; she is currently eight points shy of 800. Senior guard Apiphany Woods is also closing in on the 800-point career scoring mark with 787 career points.

FIELD GOAL PERCENTAGE CLOSE-UP
During conference play, ISU has limited all but three of its Big Sky opponents to under 40 percent shooting from the field. The Bengals rank first in the conference in field goal percentage defense during conference play, forcing their opponents to an average of 36.0 percent shooting. ISU ranks second in three-point field goal percentage defense, forcing opponents into shooting an average of 28.5 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 five of their last six games. Idaho State ranks second in the conference in rebounding margin, and has out-rebounded its opponents by an average of 3.9 rebounds per game.
 
LIMITING OPPORTUNITIES
In conference play, the Bengals are limiting their opponents to an average of 61.0 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 62.4 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.