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POCATELLO, Idaho – The Idaho State women's basketball team extended its win streak to four games with a 53-47 win over visiting Portland State Thursday night at the ICCU Court at Reed Gym. Once again the Bengals converted at the line to seal the win as they converted six free throws in the final three minutes to thwart any potential comeback attempts.
Sophomore guard
Isabel Vara de Rey led the Bengals with a team-high 13 points while freshman guard
Estefania Ors added 10. Every single Bengal to see the floor scored, with six scoring five or more points. Junior forward
Lindsay Brown finished with a career- and game-high five assists to go along with six boards and five points, while sophomore guard
Grace Kenyon pulled down a game-high nine rebounds.
"Portland State is a great team and they are going to get even better," Head Coach
Seton Sobolewski said. "They have a lot of young talent. It took a big effort for us both defensively and on the glass to win this game. We didn't shoot the ball well, but we got enough extra possessions where we were able to get enough shots up to win."
Portland State (10-13, 4-7 BSC) finished 20-of-46 from the floor to shoot 43.5 percent while Idaho State (13-9, 7-4 BSC) made 18-of-50 attempts to shoot an even 36 percent, but the Bengals bested the Vikings on the glass with a 31-26 advantage including a 15-5 edge on the offensive glass. ISU finished with 17 second-chance points and forced 17 Vikings turnovers to maximize its number of possessions.
The game was a slow start offensively for both squads, and after 10 minutes of play the Bengals boasted a 9-4 advantage. In the second quarter, ISU extended its lead to eight following a trey from Vara de Rey at the 8:26 mark and with just over five minutes remaining the Bengals led by nine, once again following a Vara de Rey three. But the Vikings came alive and put together an 11-0 run over the next 3:41 to take the lead 20-18. A jumper from sophomore guard
Britanny Kochenderfer 30 seconds later tied the game, but PSU responded with a jumper from sophomore forward Pia Jurhar to regain the lead. With one final possession, the Bengals worked the clock and Vara de Rey found Brown for a big three to give ISU the 23-22 halftime lead.
Idaho State opened the second half with lockdown defense, forcing eight Portland State turnovers in the third quarter alone. PSU's turnovers led to 10 of ISU's 14 points and the Bengals continued to work the offensive glass as they pulled down six in the third quarter. Idaho State limited the Vikings to just five points and held a 10-point lead, 37-27, heading into the fourth.
ISU's lead was short-lived as Portland State put together an 11-2 run over the first three minutes of the fourth to cut ISU's advantage to one, 39-38. The Bengals never relinquished their lead and made 9-of-10 free throws down the stretch to keep the Vikings at bay and earn the 53-47 win.
"I thought in the second half we did a great job on the offensive glass," Sobolewski said. "We had 11 o-boards in the second half alone. We needed every one of those possessions. I also thought a lot of individual players stepped up in moments and did a great job. Estefania did a great job off the bench with 10 points, and Grace did a great job on the glass. There were just a lot of people who contributed in different ways."
Portland State was led by sophomore guard Ashley Bolston with 17 points, 14 of which came in the second half. Sophomore guard Sidney Rielly added 11 while sophomore forward Courtney West chipped in 10. West also led the rebounding effort with a team-high eight rebounds.
Idaho State returns to play Saturday, Feb. 11 as it hosts Sacramento State at 2 p.m. at the ICCU Court at Reed Gym. The game will serve as ISU's annual PINK game to help spread awareness for women's cancer. Fans are encouraged to wear pink to show their support.
