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POCATELLO, Idaho – The Idaho State women's basketball team overcame a slow start to defeat visiting Northern Arizona 76-59 Thursday evening at the ICCU Court at Reed Gym.
"It wasn't a pretty game, but I think we started working on some of things that we've been emphasizing in the last two days of practice," Head Coach
Seton Sobolewski said. "I thought we had a lot greater energy level, even though we didn't play perfect, especially on the offensive end."
Idaho State (13-7, 5-4 BSC) finished with three players in double figures, led by junior forward
Grace Kenyon with 17 points, a game-high eight boards and a game-high six assists. Junior guard
Saylair Grandon and sophomore guard
Estefania Ors also finished in double-figures with 15 and 12 points respectively.
Northern Arizona (4-17, 1-9 BSC) dominated the opening minutes, racing out to a 6-0 run before a trey from Grandon put ISU on the board. Grandon extended ISU's scoring run herself, scoring eight unanswered points over a 1:15 span to give Idaho State its first lead of the evening (8-6) with 6:29 remaining. With 2:20 remaining, ISU led by four points (14-10), but a 5-0 Lumberjack run to close the period gave the 'Jacks the lead heading into the second.
Idaho State kept the 'Jacks close as NAU's largest lead of the second was just three points. With seven minutes to go, Northern Arizona claimed a 20-17 lead, but a balanced Bengal scoring attack which saw four different players score over the next 2:40 put ISU up by five, 25-20. A solid 50 percent shooting effort extended the Bengals lead to 10 (32-22) with 1:33 remaining. However, Northern Arizona scored five unanswered points to close the period to cut ISU's lead to five, 32-27.
A quick seven points to open the second half gave the Bengals another double-digit lead (39-27), and they maintained a double-digit lead until a three from NAU's Olivia Lucero cut the lead to nine, 43-34. Two free throws and another trey courtesy of Lucero cut ISU's lead to six (45-39) with 4:37 remaining, and a minute later the 'Jacks had brought the Bengals within three, 45-42.
A jumper from Kenyon at the 3:18 mark gave the Bengals a two-possession lead, but Northern Arizona once more cut the lead to three (47-44) with 2:07 remaining. Idaho State responded and closed the period on an 8-3 run to gain a seven-point lead (55-48) heading into the final quarter.
The Bengals took control in the fourth quarter, outscoring NAU 21-11 and out-rebounding the 'Jacks 17-4 in the final 10 minutes. ISU led by as many as 19 in the closing minutes and held the Lumberjacks to 33.3 percent shooting from the field, from three and from the charity strip to earn the 76-59 win.
Northern Arizona was led by Lucero with a game-high 21 points while Kenna McDavis chipped in 13.
Idaho State continues play Saturday, Feb. 3 against Southern Utah at 2 p.m. in Reed Gym.
NOTES
- Grandon's 15 points mark the third-straight game the junior guard has finished in double-figures and the eighth time this season. It's the first time this season that Grandon has reached double-figures in three-consecutive games.
- Idaho State out-rebounded Northern Arizona 37-32, and the Bengals improve to 12-2 overall this season in games in which they out-rebound their opponent.
- The Bengals forced a season-high 28 turnovers, which led to 23 points. ISU has forced at least 20 turnovers in four games this season; previously, the largest number of turnovers the Bengals have forced was 24 against Washington State on Dec. 1, 2017.
