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RENO, Nev. – The Idaho State women's basketball championship run came to a close Saturday afternoon with a 62-56 loss to No. 1 Montana State at the Reno Events Center in Reno, Nev. The Bengals finish their season with a 19-14 overall record, the second-best overall record posted by ISU under Head Coach
Seton Sobolewski.
Sophomore guard
Grace Kenyon led the Bengals with a career-high 26 points to go along with a game-high tying 10 boards for her fourth double-double of the season. Freshman guard
Estefania Ors chipped in eight points with four assists and four rebounds while freshman guard
Bianca Thacker added seven points with four rebounds, two assists and one block.
"We struggled hitting open shots today," Sobolewski said. "We didn't get much going on at the basket or in the low post….I think we had a hard time finishing the game. Four games in six days is tough."
Idaho State (19-14) raced out to a 12-2 advantage, making five of its first eight attempts while limiting Montana State (25-6) to 1-of-10 from the floor in the first 6:30. The Bobcats' Peyton Ferris scored six of their first 10 points to cut in to ISU's lead, and the Bengals headed into the second quarter with a 16-12 lead.
The Bobcats opened the second on a 3-0 run to take their first lead of the game at 17-16 just a minute into the quarter. ISU responded with a 7-2 run over the next 4:05 to regain a four-point lead, 23-19, following a layup from Thacker. The Bengals nursed the lead for the next 1:43 until two free throws from Ferris gave the Bobcats the advantage once more. Montana State finished the quarter on a 5-2 run to take the lead 32-38 heading into the break.
Neither squad scored for the first 1:40 of the second half, but the Bengals opened up the scoring at the 8:20 mark with a Kenyon layup. Sophomore guard
Isabel Vara de Rey followed it up with a fast break layup to tie the game 32-all. The quarter would feature two more ties over the remaining 8:00 minutes, and a jumper from Kenyon at the 2:19 mark put ISU in front 39-38. Idaho State held the Bobcats to six points on 5.9 percent shooting from the floor and entered the final 10 minutes with the lead.
"I thought in the third quarter we did a great job of coming out and establishing what we do: we play great defense," Sobolewski said. "We held them to six percent shooting in the third quarter."
Montana State briefly took the lead with a layup from Riley Nordgaard at the 9:23 mark of the fourth, but Kenyon sunk both of ISU's first free throw attempts of the day to put the Bengals back on top with 8:15 remaining, 41-40. Over the next 4:18, the Bobcats outscored the Bengals 12-3 to take an eight-point lead with 3:52 remaining.
A big trey from Kenyon 30 seconds made it a two-possession game with 3:22 remaining, but MSU's Nordgaard responded with a three of her own to give the Bobcats another eight-point lead with 3:12 remaining. The Bengals would cut the lead to five twice over the final minutes but would get no closer as Montana State held on for the 62-56 win for MSU's first Big Sky Conference tournament championship since the 1992-93 season.
"We are extremely proud of our team and what they've done," Sobolewski said. "I think they've shown how much you can accomplish with hard work, effort, being a good teammate and having the right attitude."
Both Thacker and Kenyon were named to the Big Sky Conference All-Tournament Team along with Delaney Hodgins (Eastern Washington), Ashley Bolston (Portland State), Riley Nordgaard (Montana State) and MVP Peyton Ferris (Montana State).
The Bengals return all but two players for the 2017-18 season as senior guard
Freya Newton has exhausted her eligibility and senior forward
April Dawson will be graduating in May.
NOTES
- Grace Kenyon's 26-point effort surpassed her previous career-high of 20 points, and her 10 boards resulted in her fourth double-double of the season and the seventh of her career.
- Idaho State limited Montana State to just 62 points, 12.9 points below its season average. It was just the sixth time the Bobcats have scored 62 or fewer points this season.
- The Bengals won the rebounding battle 40-39. It is the 19th time this season ISU has grabbed at least 40 boards and marks the 29th time the Bengals have out-rebounded their opponent this season.
