Box Score PDF
POCATELLO, Idaho – The Idaho State women's basketball team dropped a 61-58 decision to visiting Eastern Washington Saturday afternoon at the ICCU Court at Reed Gym. The Bengals led 28-24 at the break, but 11 second-half Bengal fouls sent the Eagles to the line 20 times in the final 20 minutes. EWU converted 16-of-20 free throws in the second half to seal the win.
Idaho State (16-11, 10-6 BSC) finished with two players in double-figures, led by junior forward
Lindsay Brown with 14. Sophomore guard
Grace Kenyon chipped in 10 points to go along with four assists and three boards.
"I thought Eastern Washington did a great job showing up and playing hard," Head Coach
Seton Sobolewski said. "They made some big plays down the stretch. I though Delaney Hodgins and Ashli Payne hit big shots. We lacked the appropriate effort today."
The Bengals started the game with full force and raced out to a 7-0 lead in the first two minutes. Eastern Washington (16-11, 11-5 BSC) responded with back-to-back treys from Hodgins and Payne to cut ISU's lead to one. Yet ISU controlled the lead for the majority of the first quarter and extended the lead to five twice over the course of the quarter. With 2:03 left, the Bengals led 13-8, but a 6-0 Eagle run put the visitors in front with 36 seconds remaining in the first. Two free throws from sophomore guard
Isabel Vara de Rey with six seconds remaining gave ISU the one-point lead heading into the second quarter.
The Bengals had a solid second quarter, shooting 54.5 percent from the floor for 13 points while forcing EWU into five turnovers. The Eagles connected on 4-of-11 shots in the second quarter for 10 points while Idaho State claimed the edge on the boards 7-5. The Bengals headed into the break with a 28-24 lead.
Three minutes into the third quarter and the Bengals maintained a four-point lead, 32-28, but an 8-0 Eagles run put ISU behind by four with 5:23 left in the third. Two-straight Bengal buckets put ISU back in front 37-36 with 3:23 remaining, and Idaho State controlled the lead for the remainder of the quarter to enter the fourth with a 41-40 advantage.
The fourth quarter was determined at the free throw line. Both Eastern and Idaho State were perfect from the line in the final quarter, but six Bengal fouls put EWU at the line 10 times while the Bengals attempted two. The Eagles posted a perfect performance from the three-point line as well and outscored ISU 21-17 in the fourth to take the lead and earn the 61-58 win.
"I don't think we defended in transition well," Brown said. "That was a big part of our loss. Energy wasn't there, and our effort wasn't as high as it was against Idaho on Thursday. I think we just need to bring that now throughout next week and the conference tournament."
Eastern Washington was led by Hodgins with a game-high 20 points while Payne added 15.
Idaho State continues play on the road Wednesday, March 1 at Montana State. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m.
