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POCATELLO, Idaho – The Idaho State women's basketball team defeated visiting Sacramento State 79-60 Saturday afternoon in its annual PINK game at the ICCU Court at Reed Gym. The Bengals held the league's top scoring team to 21 points under its season average and shot 52.9 percent from the floor on their way to their highest offensive output of the season.
Four players finished in double figures for the Bengals led by freshman guard
Estefania Ors with 19 points and seven rebounds. Sophomore guard
Britanny Kochenderfer finished with career-highs in points and rebounds with 15 and eight respectively, while sophomore guard
Grace Kenyon was one assist shy of a triple-double with 13 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists. Sophomore guard
Isabel Vara de Rey also finished in double-figures with 13.
"We had a few too many turnovers, but we passed the ball great at times and we had people hit big shots and make big plays," Head Coach
Seton Sobolewski said. "
Britanny Kochenderfer did a great job in the first half along with
Estefania Ors hitting big shots. We did just enough to keep it together."
Seven of eight Bengals to see the floor scored, with all seven scoring five or more points. Every single ISU player grabbed a rebound, and the Bengals registered their third-highest assist total for the season with 17.
Idaho State (14-9, 8-4 BSC) worked to slow down the fast-paced tempo of Sacramento State (8-15, 4-8 BSC), but the Hornets still managed to push the ball in the first, scoring 20 points. The Bengals countered and shot 47.1 percent in the first 10 minutes to come away with a two-point lead, 22-20, heading into the second.
A strong defensive push from the Bengals in the second limited the Hornets to just eight points off 3-of-18 from the floor. Sacramento State did force five Bengal turnovers, but ISU countered with hot shooting from Kochenderfer and freshman guard
Bianca Thacker. Both were perfect from the floor and contributed to ISU's 57.1 field goal percentage in the second quarter. With the game tied at 24-all with 7:24 remaining in the half, ISU finished on a 17-4 run to lead by 15 at the half.
Coming out of the break, Sacramento State turned on the burners, outscoring the Bengals 12-5 over the first 3:10 of the third quarter to cut the Bengals' lead to seven, 47-40. Neither team scored a field goal for the next 4:31, but Ors hit a big trey from the wing at the 2:19 mark to end the drought. Idaho State hit a layup and two free throws to go up by 13 heading into the final quarter.
Sacramento State full-court pressed and trapped in the half court the majority of the game, and the fourth quarter was no different. Idaho State handled the pressure and only turned the ball over three times in the final 10 minutes and shot 57.1 percent from the floor for a 20-point fourth quarter. The Bengals limited Sac State to 14 points in the final 10 minutes to earn the 79-60 win.
"Without having Saylair [Grandon] on the court, it's something that everyone had to do a little bit extra to make up for it," Kochenderfer said. "She's a great player, and she was a great teammate tonight, but I thought a lot of our team did a really great job of stepping up and filling in Saylair's gap."
Sacramento State was led in scoring by both Brianna Burgos and Quayonna Harris who each finished with nine points. Alexia Mefi led the Hornets with a team-high four rebounds.
Idaho State is back in action Thursday, Feb. 16 as it travels to North Dakota. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. MST.
NOTES
- Britanny Kochenderfer registered career-highs in points (15), rebounds (8) and minutes (29).
- Idaho State held Sacramento State to 60 points, 21 points under its season average. It ties for the lowest scoring output by the Hornets this season as Weber State held the Hornets to 60 points on Thursday, Feb. 9.
- Idaho State's 79 points is its highest scoring output of the season. The Bengals have reached the 70-point plateau five times this season: at Santa Clara on Nov. 11 with 78 points, vs. Davidson on Nov. 25 with 70 points, against Montana Tech on Dec. 16 with 77 points and at Southern Utah on Feb. 4 with 71 points.
- The Bengals continue to be clutch from the free throw line. ISU finished 18-22 from the charity stripe to shoot 81.8 percent. This is the fifth time this season the Bengals have shot at least 80 percent from the free throw line.
- Sacramento State finished with zero players in double figures. That is the first time since Dec. 30, 2008 in a loss to UTEP that the Hornets have not had a single player finish in double figures.
