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BOZEMAN, Mont. – The Idaho State women's basketball team fell to Montana State 73-67 at Worthington Arena in Bozeman Wednesday evening. The Bengals put together a furious second-half comeback to all but erase a 20-point deficit, but the Bobcats shot 42 percent in the fourth quarter and converted 8-of-12 free throws to seal the win.
Three Bengals finished in double figures led by freshman guard
Estefania Ors with 19 to go along with four rebounds, three assists and two steals. Sophomore guard
Grace Kenyon added 15 points and six boards while freshman guard
Bianca Thacker chipped in 10 points with a team-high tying nine rebounds.
"Estefania gave us a great boost off the bench with 19 points," Head Coach
Seton Sobolewski said.
Idaho State (16-12, 10-7 BSC) fell into a huge hole early as Montana State (21-6, 14-3 BSC) dominated the first quarter shooting 65 percent from the floor including 66 percent from the three. The Bobcats netted 6-of-9 attempts from long range and cruised to a 20-point advantage after the first 10 minutes, 27-7.
The Bengals found their offensive rhythm in the second as they shot 50 percent from the field for 22 second-quarter points. Kenyon led the attack in the second with eight points as ISU continued to chip away at MSU's lead. A layup from Kenyon with 29 seconds to go brought the Bengals within 10, 39-29, but two Bobcat free throws courtesy of Margreet Barhoum with two seconds remaining put the Bengals behind 41-29 heading into the break.
Montana State kicked off the second with a layup 20 seconds to lead 43-29, but five unanswered Bengal points cut MSU's lead to single digits for the first time since the 5:06 mark of the first quarter. Another Bengal bucket just under two minutes later brought ISU within seven, 43-36 with 6:36 remaining in the third. Idaho State was on fire in the third, hitting 7-of-10 shot attempts and dominating the boards 12-3. Three threes and a 75 percent performance from the line led to 22 ISU third-quarter points while the Bengals limited MSU to 13. As the third came to a close, the Bengals trailed MSU by just three points, 54-51.
ISU's hot shooting from the second and third quarters fizzled out in the fourth as the Bengals netted just 5-of-14 attempts to shoot 36 percent from the floor. The Bengals also committed nine fourth-quarter fouls to send the Bobcats to the line 12 times which led to eight of MSU's 19 fourth-quarter points. Idaho State's comeback attempt fell just short as MSU held on for the six-point win, 73-67
"After getting into a bad hole early, I thought we did a good job of battling back," Sobolewski said. "We needed to be tougher in the fourth quarter offensively to finish the game off."
Montana State was led by senior guard Peyton Ferris with a game-high 22 points and 12 boards. Riely Nordgaard and Delany Junkermier also finished in double figures with 13 and 11 respectively.
Idaho State concludes the regular season at Montana on Friday, March 3. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. at Dahlberg Arena in Missoula, Mont.
