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RENO, Nev. – The Idaho State women's basketball team is headed to the Big Sky Conference championship game for the second-straight year after defeating No.7 Portland State 54-50 Friday afternoon in the semifinals at the Reno Events Center in Reno, Nev. The win marked Head Coach
Seton Sobolewski's 150th career win, and it will be his third trip to the Big Sky Conference Tournament championship game.
The Bengals were led by freshmen duo
Bianca Thacker and
Estefania Ors. Thacker finished with a career-high 18 points off 6-of-9 from the floor including 4-of-5 from beyond-the-arc. Ors added 15 points and was a perfect 4-of-4 from long range.
"Well, I thought we shot the ball really well," Sobolewski said. "
Bianca Thacker did a great job, hitting four threes, and then
Estefania Ors did a great job shooting the ball against the zone. They weren't really giving us much inside the three point line, so thank goodness we hit some of those shots."
Idaho State (19-13) finished 10-of-21 from beyond-the-arc to combat the Vikings' zone and paint presence. Portland State (16-17) shot 34 percent from the floor and out-rebounded the Bengals 32-31.
Idaho State started the first quarter with two baskets on its first two possessions to take the early lead, 4-2. The Bengals were plagued with turnovers in the first 10 minutes as Portland State forced six and struggled to find any sort of offensive rhythm. The Vikings scored six of their 15 points off ISU's turnovers, and they shot 50 percent from the floor to take a 15-11 lead heading into the second quarter.
The start of the second was scoreless for both squads, but a PSU foul at the 7:14 mark sent sophomore guard
Saylair Grandon to the line. Grandon converted both to cut the Vikings' lead to two, 15-13, then back-to-back threes from Thacker put the Bengals in front, 19-17 with 5:55 remaining. A layup from Portland State 15 seconds later tied the game up for the fifth time but senior guard
Freya Newton sunk a trey from the left corner to give the Bengals a three-point lead, 22-19.
A minute and a half later and another trey from Thacker gave ISU its largest lead of the first half at six, 26-20. But the Vikings closed the half on a 7-2 run to cut the Bengals' advantage to just one, 28-27. Despite 10 first-half turnovers, Idaho State was able to maintain its lead by winning the battle of the boards 17-14 and by forcing the Vikings to shoot 36 percent from the field.
Thacker opened the scoring for the Bengals in the third, hitting her fourth trey and setting a new career-high in points in the process. Idaho State went scoreless for nearly three and a half minutes following its opening bucket, but a layup from Ors at the 5:25 broke a 31-all tie and gave the Bengals the two-point lead. Ors added to her third-quarter scoring production and hit two more buckets over the next 2:30, giving the Bengals the 39-33 advantage. ISU hit two more treys to close the quarter to gain a seven-point lead, 45-38, heading into the final 10 minutes.
Thacker once more opened the scoring for the Bengals, this time with a jumper in the paint to give ISU a nine-point advantage with 7:49 remaining. ISU held the Vikings to a single field goal for the first 8:20 of the fourth, but the PSU chipped away at the lead with a couple of free throws over that same time. A layup from Portland State's Cici West cut the lead to four, 49-45 with 1:40 to go, and West went 1-for-2 from the line on the ensuing possession to bring the Vikings within three.
Grandon sunk a jumper from the right elbow with 43 seconds remaining to put ISU up by five, but PSU once more scored on a layup to make it a one-possession game with 22 seconds remaining. Portland State had committed just two fouls in the quarter, so the Vikings began to foul ISU to stop the clock and put ISU on the line. The Bengals converted 3-of-4 in the final 12 seconds to defeat the Vikings 54-50 and advance to the Big Sky Conference Championship game for the second-straight year.
"I thought our defense was fantastic," Sobolewski said. "We held them to 34 percent shooting, and they are the number one field goal percentage shooting team in the conference. I thought it was a great team effort; everybody made great contributions. We are moving on."
Idaho State faces No. 1 Montana State in the Big Sky Conference Championship game Saturday, March 11 at 1:05 p.m. MST.
NOTES
- ISU's win over Portland State marked Head Coach Seton Sobolewski's 150th career win, and improves his post-season record to 10-9. Sobolewski is now 10-7 all-time in conference tournament games and carries a 1-1 record in Big Sky Conference tournament championship games.
- Montana was the last team to advance to the conference championship at least two-straight season. They advanced during the 2013, 2014 and 2015 seasons.
- Idaho State is now 12-0 against the Vikings in the last 12 meetings.
