POCATELLO, Idaho – Idaho State wraps up nonconference play against Pepperdine at 2 p.m. tomorrow afternoon in Reed Gym. It is the final game for the Bengals before they open conference play against Idaho three weeks later on Dec. 29.
-The game will be streamed on
Watch Big Sky TV and
Pluto TV channel 243.
Mark Liptak and
Brad Bugger will call the game on KISU 91.1 FM and
Stretch Internet with pregame starting 25 minutes before the tip. Live stats will also be
available here.
Last Time Out
-Idaho State improved to 4-4 with an 80-68 victory over Utah Valley Thursday night. The Bengals are 2-0 in Reed Gym amid a five-game home stretch. Their consecutive wins against Benedictine-Mesa and Utah Valley marked the first time the team has won back-to-back contests.
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Sai Tapasa and
Saylair Grandon scored 49 of ISU's 80 points with Tapasa netting a career-high 25 points. Grandon added 24 points after shooting 8-10 from the field and 5-6 from three-point range. She also tallied five rebounds, seven assists and a career-high three blocks.
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Grace Kenyon was the only other Bengal in double figures with 10 points while shooting 5-6 though
Madison Hinrichs finished with nine and a career-high eight assists.
-Idaho State was red hot, shooting 66 percent from the field and 50 percent from three without missing a free throw on six attempts. They used persistent passing to break UVU's zone, culminating in 25 assists on 33 made field goals. Even more impressive was 46 points came from the paint.
Idaho State This Season
-Grandon, Kenyon and
Estefania Ors are the only members of the team averaging double figures. Grandon leads the team with 12.4 points per game. Tapasa just misses the cutoff after her 25-point effort with 9.4 points per game.
-Kenyon and Grandon also lead the team with 6.0 and 5.5 rebounds per game respectively. Tapasa again trails close behind with 4.9 boards per game.
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Delaney Moore,
Ellie Smith and
Madison Hinrichs are all shooting 50 percent or better this season. Moore is the team leader with a 63.6 percent conversion rate on 22 attempts. Two other Bengals, Kenyon and Tapasa, are shooting better than 42 percent. Kenyon, who has the second-most field goal attempts this season, has a 49.3 field goal percentage.
-All six players with multiple starts average more than 24 minutes of playing time with Grandon leading the way at 32.8 minutes per game.
Montana Oltrogge and Moore are the only other players with more than 10 minutes of play per game. Just six Bengals have appeared in every game this season.
-Idaho State averages 63.5 points, 34.4 rebounds, 15.5 assists, 5.5 steals, 2.8 blocks and 17.8 turnovers per game. The team has shot 43.1 percent from the field and 33.9 percent from three-point range this season while limiting opponents to a 39.8 field goal percentage.
-The Bengals were picked to finish third in the Big Sky Coaches' Preseason Poll and fourth by the media.
-Head Coach
Seton Sobolewski is in his 11th season with the program and carries a 175-146 overall record. He has led the team to two postseason tournament appearances: one NCAA tournament berth and one WNIT tournament appearance.
Series Record
Overall 0-3 | Home 0-1 | Away 0-2
Last Meeting: Nov. 21, 2017 at Pepperdine…Loss 80-74
-Idaho State has never defeated Pepperdine in three meetings. They have played in Reed Gym just once with the 1996 clash ending in a 71-65 overtime loss for the Bengals. Last season the two squads met in Malibu where the Waves took the 80-74 victory in their first meeting in 11 seasons.
Pepperdine Waves
Conference: West Coast Conference
2018 Record: 5-1 | Streak: W2
-Pepperdine is off to its best start in 20 years with a 5-1 record. The Waves have already taken down a pair of Big Sky squads including Weber State (68-47) in their home opener Wednesday night. They topped Sacramento State 113-97 in November as Yasmine Robinson-Bacote posted the highest scoring total in school history with 47 points.
-Robinson-Bacote is the 10th-highest scorer in the nation with 22.8 points per game. She has shot 52.8 percent from the field and 52.6 percent from three this season while pulling down 6.5 rebounds per contest.
-Paige Fecske and Barbara Sitanggan also average double figures with 11.4 and 10.5 points per contest.
-Sitanggan is the national leader in assist to turnover ratio at 5.60. She leads the team with a 61.3 field goal percentage and adds 5.5 rebounds per game.
-All three players mentioned above average more than 27 minutes of playing time per game. Fellow starter Malia Bambrick clocks in at 22.2 ticks per game and the final starting spot has been shared among several players.
-Pepperdine has shot 42.2 percent from the floor, 36.6 percent from the three-point line and 67.9 percent from the free-throw line this season. The Waves average 76.5 points, 42.2 rebounds, 14.0 assists, 7.5 steals, 2.2 blocks and 13.2 turnovers per game.
-Head Coach Delisha Milton-Jones is a former WNBA and Team USA player entering her second season at the helm of the program. She carries a 15-21 overall record.
