Final Box PDF
POCATELLO, Idaho – Idaho State women's basketball dropped a 77-62 decision to visiting Northern Colorado Thursday night at the ICCU Court at Reed Gym. It marked the first time this season that the Bengals have lost at home.
Northern Colorado (15-3, 7-0 BSC) remained unbeaten in Big Sky play following an impressive shooting performance including the third-best three point field goal shooting performance by a Big Sky team this season. Idaho State (9-8, 3-3 BSC) could not contain the three ball as the Bears sunk 14-of-23 attempts to shoot 60.9 percent from beyond-the-arc for the game.
"It's a dagger to the heart," sophomore guard
Saylair Grandon said. "It's never good. Even if you pride yourself on defense or not. They shot phenomenally from the three, and from the two, so that's just something that we need to change and work on."
Idaho State was led by freshman guard
Bianca Thacker who scored a team- and season-high 15 points to go along with six rebounds and two steals. Grandon, junior forward
Lindsay Brown and freshman guard
Estefania Ors also finished in double figures with 11 points apiece.
Idaho State opened the game with a 2-of-12 shooting performance in the first quarter which opened the doors for the Bears to take the early lead. Just over five minutes in, Northern Colorado led by seven, 9-2, but two free throws from Thacker and a jumper from Ors cut the lead to three with 3:41 remaining in the first. UNC finished on a 4-2 run to claim a five-point lead heading into the second quarter, 13-8.
The Bears opened the second quarter with a three from Mandy Karako to extend their lead to eight points, but the Bengals responded, rattling off eight straight points to tie the game 16-all with 7:38 remaining in the half. A layup from Brown at the 6:54 mark gave ISU a brief two-point lead, only to be erased with a jumper by UNC's guard Savannah Smith 15 seconds later. Idaho State missed a three-point attempt on the ensuing possession, and Smith responded with her second-consecutive jumper to put UNC in front 20-18.
A trey from Thacker at the 4:57 put ISU ahead once more, and two free throws from sophomore guard
Isabel Vara de Rey gave the Bengals a three-point lead 23-20 with 4:07 remaining. UNC outscored ISU 8-2 in the final minutes to take the 28-25 lead at half.
Northern Colorado extended its lead in the third, outscoring Idaho State 20-16 to take a 48-41 lead heading into the fourth. UNC twice extended its lead to 10 points in the third, but Idaho State responded to cut the lead to six with 1:09 remaining in the quarter. A trey from Savannah Smith gave the Bears a nine-point advantage with 40 seconds remaining, but Grandon followed it up with a jumper to cut the lead to seven, 48-41.
In the fourth the Bears pulled away behind the hot hand of Savannah Smith and a perfect 6-for-6 performance as a team from beyond-the-arc. Smith erupted for 10 points in the fourth quarter and UNC shot 71.4 percent as a squad to pull away by as many as 20 in the fourth quarter. Idaho State began to press the Bears and forced nine fourth-quarter UNC turnovers, but the Bengals could not close the gap. UNC cruised to the 77-62 win to hand the Bengals their first loss at the ICCU Court at Reed Gym this season.
"Northern Colorado shot it really well," Head Coach
Seton Sobolewski said. "They handle the ball so well, they make great decisions and any little mistake you make, they make you pay. Savannah Smith, that might have been one of the best shooting displays I've seen in here (Reed Gym) in a long time."
Smith led the Bears with a game-high 29 points which also marked a new career-high for the sophomore guard. Smith connected on 10-of-17 from the floor including 6-of-10 from three and added six rebounds, four assists and two steals. Savannah Scott also finished in double figures for Northern Colorado with 16 points to go along with four assists and five rebounds.
Idaho State returns to the hardwood Saturday, Jan. 21 against North Dakota at 2 p.m. at the ICCU Court at Reed Gym.
NOTES
- Coming into Thursday's game, the Bengals ranked third in the Big Sky for three-point percentage defense as they have forced their opponents to shoot an average of 30.2 percent from three for the season. Northern Colorado shot 60.9 percent from beyond-the-arc for the game.
- Idaho State continues to be dominant on the boards. The Bengals once again out-rebounded their opponent claiming a 36-32 edge on Northern Colorado. It marks the 16th time this season Idaho State has out-rebounded its opponent, and the Bengals are now 9-7 on the season when out rebounding their opponent.
