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POCATELLO, Idaho – The Idaho State women's basketball team outlasted Weber State 57-52 Saturday afternoon at the ICCU Court at Reed Gym. The Bengals posted their second-best free throw percentage of the season, sinking 22-of-27 attempts including 10-of-12 in the final 10 minutes to seal the game.
"Coach [
Seton Sobolewski] was actually talking about our fouls and our free throw attempts, ours versus theirs," sophomore guard
Saylair Grandon said. "That played a really big part of the game. Containing our fouls, and giving them less open opportunities, that really made a difference. Especially when we only won by five."
Three players finished in double-figures for ISU led by Grandon with 14 points and a career- and game-high 10 rebounds. Junior forward
Lindsay Brown and freshman guard
Bianca Thacker both chipped in 11.
"I thought a lot of different people stepped up and made huge contributions," Head Coach
Seton Sobolewski said.
Weber State (8-12, 2-6 BSC) opened the game with a 9-2 run to put Idaho State (10-9, 4-4 BSC) on its heels. A jumper and a free throw from sophomore guard
Isabel Vara de Rey cut the lead to four, 9-5, with 4:32 remaining, but the Wildcats held the Bengals to just seven points in the remaining minutes to claim a 16-11 advantage heading into the second quarter.
Idaho State had a breakout second quarter, shooting 50 percent from the floor and a perfect 5-for-5 from the charity stripe to outscore the Wildcats 19-15. Freshman guard
Estefania Ors came up big for the Bengals, hitting two jumpers and converting three free throws for seven second-quarter points. Idaho State started the quarter on a 7-2 run to tie the game at 18-all with 7:04 remaining. The quarter would feature four more ties, the last coming at the 1:07 mark following a WSU jumper from Jaiamoni Welch-Coleman. Welch-Coleman followed that up with a trey with 27 seconds remaining to give the Wildcats the three-point lead, 31-28. On the ensuing play, sophomore guard
Britanny Kochenderfer found Thacker for the easy layup to close the half down one, 31-30.
A huge Idaho State defensive effort in the third quarter limited Weber State to six points as the Wildcats shot 11 percent from the floor. ISU's Brown went to work in the third, converting 2-of-5 attempts for seven points in addition to four rebounds, an assist and a steal. A free throw from Brown with 32 seconds remaining gave ISU its largest lead of the afternoon, 44-37. A final missed attempt from Weber State gave ISU the seven-point lead heading into the final quarter.
In the final quarter, the Bengals prevailed at the free throw line. Idaho State was unable to convert from the floor, going 1-for-10 in the final 10 minutes, but the Bengals were effective in drawing fouls and getting to the line. Idaho State converted 10-of-12 free throws, including four in the final five seconds, to seal the win.
"This was a really big game for our morale, to win that one, after playing some tough home games against some of the better teams in our conference," Sobolewski said. "That was really important for us. And to beat our traditional rival in Weber State means a lot around here and is a big deal."
Weber State was led by sophomore guard Emily Drake with a game-high tying 14 points to go along with four rebounds. Welch-Coleman chipped in 10 points for the Wildcats, while senior guard Deeshyra Thomas led the squad in rebounding with five.
Idaho State returns to play Thursday, Feb. 2 as the Bengals travel to Flagstaff, Ariz. to take on the Lumberjacks of Northern Arizona. Tipoff is set for 6:30 p.m.
