Box Score PDF
POCATELLO, Idaho – The Idaho State women's basketball team ran past Southern Utah 66-39 Saturday afternoon at the ICCU Court at Reed Gym to complete the weekend Big Sky sweep. The Bengals dominated the Thunderbirds inside, gaining a 44-14 advantage in the paint, and limited SUU to 18 second half points in the win.
"That one felt good, and the reason why is that I felt like we really controlled the game well with our defense and rebounding," Head Coach
Seton Sobolewski said. "What I liked about this game is that we didn't shoot the ball particularly well from the three, but we still ended up winning by 28 points."
A major contributor to Idaho State's success inside the three was sophomore forward
Sai Tapasa who finished with a career-high 19 points off 8-of-11 from the floor. Tapasa also collected six rebounds and had two assists in 24 minutes of play. Junior forward
Grace Kenyon and junior guard
Saylair Grandon also finished in double-figures with 10 points apiece; Kenyon added four assists and four rebounds while Grandon finished with a game-high seven boards.
Idaho State (14-7, 6-4 BSC) opened the game with an 18-point first quarter off 47 percent shooting from the field. The Bengals forced five turnovers on Southern Utah (3-19, 2-9 BSC), off which they scored four points. Idaho State limited the Thunderbirds to just 36 percent shooting for 10 points to claim an 18-10 advantage after the first 10 minutes.
The Bengals opened the second period on a 6-2 run to claim a 24-12 advantage 2:30 minutes in, yet a 5-0 Thunderbird run over the next 50 seconds cut ISU's lead to seven, 24-17. Idaho State responded with a 6-0 run of its own over the next 3:40 to gain an 11-point advantage (30-19) with 1:05 remaining. The two teams traded baskets in the final minute, and ISU went to the half with a 32-21 advantage at the break.
The Bengals opened the second half on a 12-2 run to take a 44-23 lead with 6:15 remaining in the third period. Nearly four minutes later, Idaho State had extended its lead to 23, 50-27. SUU closed the quarter on a 4-0 run, and ISU claimed a 50-31 lead heading into the final quarter.
Idaho State limited SUU to just eight fourth quarter points while the Bengals connected on 66.7 percent of their attempts (8-of-12) for 16 fourth-quarter points. The Bengals finished the game on a 6-0 run to claim the 66-39 win over Southern Utah.
Southern Utah was led by Kiana Johnson with 10 points while Whitney Johnson finished with a team-high five rebounds.
Idaho State hits the road next week, facing Northern Colorado at 12 p.m. in Greeley, Colo.
NOTES
- Idaho State has won six of the last eight games. In the last eight games, the Bengals have scored an average of 72.1 points while giving up just 59.5. As a team, Idaho State has shot 45.8 percent from the floor and 77.3 percent from the charity stripe, and the Bengals have also outrebounded their opponents 34.6 to 33.0.
- This is the first time in the last eight games that the high scorer for Idaho State has been someone other than Kenyon, Grandon or senior guard Brooke Blair. Only two times this season has Idaho State had the same high scorer in back-to-back contests: Grandon earned high-scorer honors back-to-back against UC Irvine and Pepperdine while Blair claimed the top scoring honors against Weber State (Dec. 30) and at Southern Utah (Jan. 4).
- Southern Utah's 39 points are the fewest points scored by any Big Sky team against the Bengals this season. College of Idaho netted the fewest points against the Bengals this season with 32 on Nov. 16, 2017.
