Bengals Host Northern Colorado Saturday in Big Sky Rematch

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POCATELLO, Idaho – The Idaho State women's basketball team plays host to visiting Northern Colorado in a Big Sky rematch Saturday at 2 p.m. at the ICCU Court at Reed Gym. ISU fell to the Bears 48-47 in Greeley, Colo., a month ago on a last-second UNC shot for its second-straight loss.

SCOUTING NORTHERN COLORADO
Northern Colorado carries a 9-11 overall record this season with a 4-6 mark in conference play. The Bears have picked up wins against Idaho State, Weber State, Southern Utah and Northern Arizona during the first half of conference play. Thursday evening UNC took host Weber State to triple overtime, falling 82-79 in the final extra period.

This season, Northern Colorado is averaging 62.5 points per game and 32.5 rebounds per game while shooting 40.7 percent from the field. Savannah Scott leads the Bears in scoring at 10.3 points per game and is also UNC's leading rebounder at 5.0 boards a contest.

In the last meeting, ISU stormed back in the final 4:18 behind two consecutive big plays from Anna Policicchio. Policicchio hit a layup followed by an old-fashioned three-point play when she finished a fast-break layup in traffic to cap a 5-0 Bengal run to bring ISU within two, 45-43. Fast forward two minutes and Isabel Vara de Rey sunk the go-ahead jumper with five seconds left to put ISU up one, 47-46. UNC converted a last-second attempt for the 48-47 win at the buzzer.

Northern Colorado is coached by Head Coach Kami Etheridge who is in her second year at the helm of the program.

SERIES REVIEW: ALMOST EVEN
Although Idaho State leads the series against Northern Colorado 16-5, the Bengals lead the Bears by only one game in the last five seasons carrying a 6-5 record since Feb. of 2011.

A LOOK BACK: THIS DATE IN HISTORY
This is the third time in program history that the Bengals have taken the court on Feb. 6. ISU is 1-1 on Feb. 6, with both games coming against Montana in 2009-10 and 2011-12.

FIELD GOAL PERCENTAGE CLOSE-UP
During conference play, ISU has limited all but one 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 37.4 percent shooting. ISU ranks second in three-point field goal percentage defense, forcing opponents into shooting an average of 27.5 percent from beyond-the-arc. The Bengals are also one of the best shooting teams in the conference, shooting an average of 41.8 percent from the floor.

INSIDE DOMINANCE
In each of ISU's last five games, the Bengals have outscored their opponent in the paint; over the last five games, the Bengals have outscored their opponents 144-90 inside including a lopsided 42-24 margin against Weber State on Jan. 23.

BALANCED SCORING = ISU VICTORY
So far this season, Idaho State is 9-5 when three or more Bengals reach double-figures. When two or fewer players score 10 or more points, Idaho State is 1-5.

LIMITING OPPORTUNITIES
In conference play, the Bengals are limiting their opponents to an average of 59.9 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 57.0 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 nine games decided by five points or less and four games decided by three points or less. ISU carries a 5-4 record in games decided by five points or less and an even 4-4 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.