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POCATELLO, Idaho – The Idaho State women's basketball team dropped 61-60 decision to visiting Montana State Wednesday evening at the ICCU Court at Reed Gym.
"That was a real heartbreaking loss," Head Coach
Seton Sobolewski said. "We've got to tip the hat to Montana State."
Idaho State (18-10, 10-7 BSC) finished with three players in double figures, led by junior guard
Saylair Grandon with 15. Junior forward
Grace Kenyon added 14, surpassing 1,000 total career points in the process, while sophomore forward
Sai Tapasa chipped in 11. The Bengals won the rebounding battle 32-27 and outscored the Bobcats in the paint, 36-28.
"I thought our effort was good," Sobolewski said. "I thought our defense, especially in the second and third quarters, was exceptional against a good offensive team. They have five players averaging double figures, and tonight only two reach double figures. We gave it a good shot, and sometimes that's how it goes."
The Bengals got off to a slow start falling behind to Montana State (15-12, 9-7 BSC) 13-6 in the first six minutes. An MSU trey with 2:53 to go in the first put the Bobcats up 10, but back-to-back Bengal baskets cut the lead to six (16-10) with 1:06 to go. MSU scored once more to close the period to lead by eight (18-10) heading into the second period.
ISU caught fire in the second period, scoring on 7-of-11 attempts to shoot 63.6 percent from the floor for 19 second-period points. The Bengals were stifling on defense, forcing five of MSU's 15 total turnovers in the second while limiting the Bobcats to 15 points on 33.3 percent shooting. A jumper from Kenyon with 11 seconds remaining cut MSU's lead to two (31-29), but the Bobcats scored on a last-second layup to secure the four-point lead (33-29) heading into the break.
ISU opened the scoring gates in the third as Kenyon finished a layup and Tapasa hit a jumper on back-to-back to tie the game 33-all 1:39 into the period. Neither team led by more than two points, and the period featured four ties and four lead changes. Montana State held a two-point lead (40-38) with 4:38 remaining, but a jumper from senior guard
Brooke Blair 1:10 later tied the game once more. Neither team scored in the final minutes of the third, heading into the final period deadlocked at 40.
Both squads were deadly from the field in the final 10 minutes as Idaho State converted 8-of-13 attempts to shoot 61.5 percent from the floor while Montana State hit 6-of-8 attempts to shoot an even 75 percent. The final period featured six lead changes and five ties, but Idaho State built the early five-point lead off a three from Blair and a jumper from Grandon on back-to-back possessions to open the period. A five-point swing in favor of the Bobcats tied the game once more (45-all) with 6:05 to go.
The score was back and forth over the next 3:13, and the game was tied once more with 2:52 remaining (54-all). ISU outscored the Bobcats 5-1 over the next 2:20, including a big old-fashioned three-point play from freshman forward
Delaney Moore, to take a four-point lead (59-55) with 27 seconds remaining.
An ISU foul on the ensuing play but the Bobcats' Oliana Squires at the line and she converted both to cut the lead to two (59-57) with 20 seconds to go. Squires then fouled Blair on the following possession to put Blair at the line where she converted 1-of-2 to put ISU up by three (60-57) with 18 seconds remaining. Montana State hit a jumper on the following possession to cut ISU's lead to one, 60-59, with nine seconds remaining. Idaho State advanced the ball, and upon inbounding the ball, MSU's Squire stole the pass and found Hannah Caudill who finished the fastbreak layup to take the 61-60 lead. ISU's final attempt fell short, giving the Bobcats the 61-60 final win.
"It was interesting, in the fourth quarter it was either a turnover or we scored," Sobolewski said. "Real heartbreaking loss."
Montana State was led by Squires with 13 points while Madeline Smith added 11.
Idaho State closes the regular-season against Montana on Friday, March 2 at 7 p.m. at the ICCU Court at Reed Gym.
NOTES
- Grace Kenyon scored her 1,000th point with 6:11 remaining in the third quarter. Heading into the game, Kenyon had 987 career points, and her jumper in the third quarter gave her 13 points to total an even 1,000. Kenyon finished with 14 points on the night for 1,001 career points.
- Kenyon is only the 18th player in ISU history to reach the 1,000 mark plateau. The last player to score at least 1,000 career points was Lindsey Reed who played from 2010-14 and finished with 1,492 career points. Reed scored 522 points her senior season.
- Idaho State out-rebounded the Bobcats 32-27. It's only the fourth time this season that ISU has out-rebounded an opponent and lost. The Bengals are now 15-4 this season in games in which they win the rebounding battle.
- The Bengals also recorded a higher shooting percentage than the Bobcats, shooting 49 percent from the floor to MSU's 40 percent. ISU falls to 17-3 overall this season in games in which it records a higher shooting percentage than its opponent.
