Final Box PDF
SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The Idaho State women's basketball team completed its Big Sky road trip sweep with an 85-71 win at Sacramento State Saturday afternoon. The Bengals shot over 50 percent from the floor for the second-straight contest and finished 23-of-25 from the charity stripe for a season-best performance of 92 percent.
"We had to use everything we had left to win that one," Head Coach
Seton Sobolewski said. "Even with the injuries they have, Sac is a tough team."
Idaho State (12-6, 4-3 BSC) was led by junior forward
Grace Kenyon with a season-high 22 points off a career-best 10-of-11 from the floor to go along with a team-high 13 rebounds for her fourth double-double of the season. Four other players finished with double-figures as sophomore guard
Estefania Ors finished with 18 points, junior guard
Saylair Grandon finished with 14 points and sophomore forward
Sai Tapasa and senior guard
Brooke Blair finished with 11 each.
The Bengals opened with a 23-point first quarter, connecting on 8-of-18 from the floor to shoot 44.4 percent from the floor. Sacramento State (3-15, 1-6 BSC) shot an identical 8-of-18 from the floor for 17 points; Idaho State claimed the edge with a perfect 5-of-5 performance from the charity stripe.
The Hornets battled back in the second period, cutting ISU's lead to two points (25-23) with 7:24 remaining and again at the 6:32 mark, but an 8-2 ISU run over the next 2:40 gave the Bengals an eight-point lead (35-27) with 4:50 remaining. Idaho State out-scored the Hornets 7-4 to close the half to give the Bengals an 11-point lead (42-31) heading into the break.
In the third quarter, Sacramento State cut the lead to six with 6:16 remaining but back-to-back buckets from Blair put ISU up by 11 (51-40) with 5:03 remaining. Sac State responded with two-straight buckets of its own to bring the lead to single digits at seven, 51-44, but the Bengals closed the period on 7-4 run to lead 58-48 heading into the final period.
Less than four minutes into the fourth, the Bengals had extended their lead to 16 points (69-53) the largest of the afternoon. Yet an 8-0 Hornets run cut the lead to eight (69-61) with 4:20 remaining. Over the next two minutes the two teams traded baskets, but with an old-fashioned three-point play and a layup from Sac State the Bengals lead was cut to five, 71-66 with 2:29 remaining.
The Hornets began to foul, putting ISU at the line 10 times in the final two minutes; the Bengals were perfect from the line in the final minutes to seal the 14-point win, 85-71.
Sacramento State was led by Kennedy Nicholas with a team-high 19 points while Maranne Johnson added 18 points. Hannah Friend rounded out the double-figure scorers for the Hornets with 14 points. Friend also led the Hornets with a game-high 14 rebounds.
Idaho State continues play on the road next week with a rematch against Weber State, Saturday, Jan. 27 at 2 p.m. in Ogden, Utah.
