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POCATELLO, Idaho – The Idaho State women's basketball team battled North Dakota Saturday afternoon for 45 minutes before falling 65-62 in overtime. Neither team led by more than six points for the entire contest.
Idaho State (9-9, 3-4 BSC) finished with two players in double figures, led by sophomore guard
Saylair Grandon with 21 points off 8-of-17 from the field for her third 20-point game of the season. Sophomore guard
Grace Kenyon chipped in 10 points with a team-high tying seven rebounds.
ISU and North Dakota (12-7, 7-1 BSC) shot nearly evenly for the game at 31 percent and 32.1 percent respectively, but the difference proved to be at the charity stripe. The Fighting Hawks shot 86.2 percent from the line, sinking 25-of-29 attempts while the Bengals shot 66.7 percent, converting 14-of-21 attempts. In overtime alone, eight of UND's 14 points came from the free throw line.
The game started at the free throw line as a Grandon foul sent UND's Fallyn Freije to the line where she converted two for the early lead. A jumper from Grandon 20 seconds later tied the game up, and this back-and-forth play summarized the first half with eight of the game's 13 ties coming in the first 20 minutes. The Bengals dominated inside in the first two quarters, outscoring the taller Fighting Hawks 14-2 in the paint. ISU also took care of the ball, committing just four turnovers in the first half and claimed a 30-26 lead at the break.
Both squads went scoreless for the first three minutes of the third quarter until UND's Chastity Franklin converted 1-of-2 at the line to break the ice. 13 seconds later, ISU's
Britanny Kochenderfer sunk a deep left-wing trey to give ISU its largest lead of the night at six, 33-27. North Dakota responded and put together a 10-4 run over the next 5:14 to tie the game at 37-all with 1:28 remaining in the third. UND's Lexi Klabo hit a three following an ISU turnover, but the Bengals responded with a jumper from junior forward
Lindsay Brown to end the quarter down 40-39.
In the fourth quarter, UND extended its lead to six, 45-39 with 8:36 remaining, but a 6-0 Bengal run over the next three minutes tied the game for the 11th time at 45-all. With 2:32 remaining, UND's Klabo hit a three to put the Fighting Hawks up by three, 51-48. 22 seconds later, Grandon squared up and sunk a trey to tie the game once more. Neither team scored the remainder of the quarter to send the game to overtime.
Idaho State limited UND to three field goals in the extra period, but the Fighting Hawks were nearly perfect from the charity stripe as they converted 8-of-9 attempts. UND's Makailah Dyer connected on 1-of-2 free throws to give the Fighting Hawks a three-point lead, 65-62 with 15 seconds remaining. On the ensuing possession, Kenyon had a solid look at the basket from the top of the key but her shot fell short. The Fighting Hawks secured the rebound and held on for the win.
"We need to keep improving," Head Coach
Seton Sobolewski said. "We need to improve our shot selection, we've got to keep improving our rebounding and following scouting reports. It'll come. It'll come with experience."
North Dakota was led by Klabo with 17 points, all of which came in the second half. Three other players finished in double figures for the Fighting Hawks as Dyer added 15, and Freije and Samantha Roscoe each chipped in 12. Roscoe also added a game-high nine rebounds.
Idaho State is back in action Saturday, Jan. 28 as the Bengals host Weber State at 2 p.m. at the ICCU Court at Reed Gym.
NOTES
- Sophomore guard Saylair Grandon finished with 21 points for her third 20-point performance of the season. It's the third-straight game she's reached double figures and the ninth time this season.
- ISU out-rebounded UND 47-43 for its 12th game with 40 or more rebounds. Idaho State falls to 9-8 in games in which it out-rebounds its opponent.
- ISU finished with a 30-14 advantage in the paint, yet UND claimed the advantage in points off turnovers with a 19-8 edge on the Bengals.
- North Dakota now leads the series 7-3. Six of those wins have been by five points or less.
