Box Score PDFPOCATELLO, Idaho – Idaho State dropped another close contest Saturday afternoon, falling to visiting Northern Colorado 61-59 at the ICCU Court at Reed Gym. This is the sixth-straight game that has been decided by five points or less for the Bengals and the third-straight loss by three points or less.
The Bengals finished with three in double figures, led by senior guard
Apiphany Woods with 11. Junior guard
Brooke Blair and senior forward
Anna Policicchio finished with 10 each with freshman guard
Isabel Vara de Rey leading the squad in rebounding with a season-high seven rebounds.
"I feel a lot better about this game than last game because we've asked our players to do different things and to try a little harder and rebound a little bit better," Head Coach
Seton Sobolewski said. "And they did tonight. They put forth the right effort. We feel much better about our effort in this game. You also feel good about having a great comeback. We were down early as Northern Colorado was hot; they couldn't miss…We did a good job of fighting back. Our defense at the end of the second quarter and in the third and fourth quarters was really good."
Idaho State (10-11, 3-7 BSC) faced an 11-point deficit at halftime, 38-27, having battling back from an 18-point hole with 8:31 left in the second quarter. A hot-shooting Northern Colorado (10-11, 5-6 BSC) squad raced to a 24-10 advantage coming out of the gates, shooting a whopping 75 percent from the floor in the first quarter. The Bengals corralled the Bears in the second, limiting them to 14 points and holding them scoreless in the final 2:31 heading into the break.
An inspired ISU team returned for the third quarter, starting with a defensive stop and an easy two from Polocicchio cut the deficit to nine points, 38-29 and spark a decisive ISU run. A trey from Blair just two minutes later brought the Bengals within eight, while a layup from Woods a minute-and-a-half later cut it to seven. ISU outscored the Bears 8-2 over the next 4:12 to bring the Bengals within one, 45-44. Both squads finished the quarter with three points apiece and headed into the fourth with a nearly dead-even score of 48-47 in favor of Northern Colorado.
The Bengals were the first to strike, as Woods muscled in a layup 12 seconds in for the 49-48 lead. ISU rode that initial momentum, gaining its largest lead of the night, 54-50, following a crucial trey from Policicchio 6:19 remaining. A three from UNC's Savannah Smith quickly ended ISU's initial run and cut the Bengal's lead to one, 54-53. The teams traded baskets for the next 5:24 until a jumper from Northern Colorado's Katie Longwell put the Bears in front by one, 60-59, with 24 seconds remaining.
Idaho State quickly called a time out and inbounded the ball on ISU's side just south of the half court line. The Bengals executed the inbounds almost perfectly, getting an open layup with eight seconds remaining. However, ISU was unable to finish the open look and in turn was forced to foul the Bears.
UNC's Scott stepped to the line with two seconds remaining and converted 1-of-2 for the 61-59 lead. ISU had time for a last-second shot, but the Bengals were unable to get the shot off before the buzzer sounded, giving UNC the 61-59 victory.
"[I feel] a bit frustrated," Woods said. "I think we played a lot better than we played Thursday. We played hard this game, and sometimes when you play hard, the ball doesn't roll your way. We are going to continue to fight, and we are going to continue to grow."
Northern Colorado was led by Longwell who finished with a game-high 15 points off 5-of-8 shooting. Rebecca Howell and Savannah Smith also finished in double figures with 14 and 12 respectively.
Idaho State is on the road next week with games at Portland State Feb. 11 at 8 p.m. MST and at Sacramento State Feb. 13 at 3:05 p.m. MST.
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