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POCATELLO, Idaho – The Idaho State women's basketball team defeated visiting Idaho 80-69 Thursday night at the ICCU Court at Reed Gym. The Bengals shot lights out, finishing a season-best 53.7 percent from the floor including a whopping 66.7 percent from three while forcing Idaho, the league's second-best three-point shooting team, to shoot just 22 percent from long range.
Senior guard
Freya Newton led the charge with a career-high 21 points, finishing 7-of-10 from the floor and a perfect 3-for-3 from long range. She also collected four rebounds and dished out four assists in the win. Freshman guard
Estefania Ors finished with 14 for her sixth-straight double-digit scoring effort, while junior forward
Lindsay Brown added 13 points and a game-high tying nine boards.
"They are a three-point shooting team, so we knew they were going to hit a couple," Newton said. "Coming out, we just had to get ourselves focused and composed in guarding the three. We came out in the second half and we picked it up a lot."
Idaho (14-12, 9-6 BSC) took the early 6-0 lead behind two treys and extended its lead to eight points with 6:30 remaining following a layup and yet another three. Idaho State (16-10, 10-5 BSC) responded and outscored the Vandals 11-7 over the final minutes of the first to cut the Vandals lead to four, 18-14, heading into the second quarter.
The Bengals exploded in the second, finishing 9-of-15 from the floor to shoot an even 60 percent for 23 points. It began with a quick jumper from Newton just three seconds into the quarter, and five more quick Bengal points over the next minute cut the Vandals' lead to one, 22-21. A free throw from Newton at the 8:18 mark tied the game 22-all. Neither team pulled ahead by more than four points the rest of the half and with 49 seconds remaining the score was tied once more, this time at 34-all. Idaho State took possession, and an Idaho foul with 23 seconds remaining reset the shot clock to give the Bengals one more possession. Ors spotted up and drained a three with six seconds remaining to give the Bengals the 37-34 lead heading into the break.
At the break, both squads were shooting near the 50 percent mark from the floor; Idaho finished the first 20 minutes shooting 53 percent while the Bengals finished shooting 48 percent. Idaho State locked down in the second half, forcing the Vandals to shoot 29 from the floor and 22 percent from long range.
"They've got one of the best three-point shooting teams in the West," Head Coach
Seton Sobolewski said. "They average about 10 or 11 threes a game. We just had to really extend out and pick people up at the volleyball line."
The Bengals came out hot, hitting three of their first six shots to gain a five-point advantage, 44-39, with 6:40 to go in the third. A trey from Idaho's Taylor Pierce at the 4:48 mark briefly cut ISU's lead to two points, but the Bengals finished on a 12-4 run to gain a 10-point advantage, 60-50, heading into the final quarter.
Idaho began to employ a soft press in the fourth and a trapping half-court zone that led to six Bengal turnovers in the final 10 minutes, giving the Vandals additional possessions and shot attempts. Idaho took 19 shots to Idaho State's 14, but the Bengals continued to convert from the floor shooting an even 50 percent in the fourth to outscore Idaho 20-19. The Vandals cut the lead to seven points twice but could not compete with Idaho State's hot shooting. Idaho's Sue Winger cut the lead to nine points with 1:09 remaining, but two free throws from Newton 33 seconds later sealed the Bengal win, 80-69.
"[That performance] was obviously really good," Sobolewski said. "We shot lights out; we shot the ball really well."
Idaho finished with three players in double figures led by Brooke Reilly with 13. The Bengals limited the Vandals' leading scorer and the second-leading scorer in the Big Sky, Mikayla Ferenz, to just 11 points, well below her season average of 17.8; Karlee Wilson also finished in double figures with 11.
Idaho State returns to play Saturday, Feb. 25 against visiting Eastern Washington at 2 p.m. at Reed Gym. It marks the Bengals' final regular-season home game, and it will be the final home game for seniors Newton and
April Dawson.
NOTES
- Idaho State's 66.7 percent performance from three is the second-highest single-game three-point percentage posted by a Big Sky team this season. Eastern Washington leads the category at 71.4 percent as the Eagles made 5-of-7 threes at Cal State Northridge on Dec. 3, 2016.
- The Bengals' 53.7 percent shooting from the floor is the highest single-game team shooting percentage by Idaho State this season. It's the fifth time this season ISU has shot 50 percent or higher and the second-straight game.
- ISU's 80 points is the most points the Bengals have scored this season and the most since the Bengals put up 89 points against Idaho last season at home on March 4, 2016.
