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RENO, Nev. – Idaho State women's basketball halted a fourth-period comeback attempt to defeat Southern Utah 59-49 for its 20th win of the season in the first round of the Big Sky Conference Tournament at the Reno Events Center in Reno, Nev. It marks the fifth time in ISU program that the Bengals have recorded at least 20 wins.
"I thought we played good enough defense to make it happen," Head Coach
Seton Sobolewski said. "We sputtered at times offensively; in fact we got a little tight, nervous, and we were too tentative on offense. Southern Utah made us pay for it. They got us to turn the ball over and they made some great plays, but I thought we played good enough defense to give us a chance."
Idaho State (20-10) held Southern Utah (3-27) to 33.3 percent shooting from the floor including 13.3 percent from long range in addition to forcing 15 turnovers. The Bengals were led by sophomore guard
Estefania Ors with a season-high 20 points off 6-of-9 from the floor and 4-of-7 from three. Junior guard
Saylair Grandon added 16 points off 5-of-8 from the floor to go along with a game-high four assists. Senior guard
Brooke Blair rounded out the double-figure scoring for the Bengals with 11 points while junior forward
Grace Kenyon hauled in a game-high 12 rebounds.
Both teams started off slow in the first period as neither squad led by more than two points until a trey from Ors with 37 seconds remaining gave ISU a four-point advantage, 13-9. SUU's Whitney Johnson got inside for the easy two 22 seconds later to cut ISU's lead to two, 13-11. The Bengals missed their ensuing attempt and headed into the second period with a two-point lead.
Idaho State turned it around in the second, shooting 72.7 percent from the floor for 19 second-quarter points. The Bengals opened with a 5-0 run in the first 60 seconds, courtesy of a layup from sophomore forward
Sai Tapasa followed by a trey from Ors, to take a seven-point lead (18-11). Ors was on fire from long range, sinking another trey with 7:52 remaining to extend ISU's lead to nine (21-12). ISU limited Southern Utah to 20 percent shooting in the second quarter and forced four turnovers to limit the Thunderbirds' offensive opportunities.
Idaho State gained its largest lead of the first half (30-14) with 3:22 remaining off a trey from Grandon, but Southern Utah outscored the Bengals 5-2 in the closing minutes to cut ISU 's lead to 13 heading into the break, 32-19.
ISU opened the third with a trey from Blair, but Southern Utah put together a 7-0 run over the next 3:09 to cut the lead to nine, 35-26. With 1:24 to go, the Bengals still held a nine-point lead (43-34), but Idaho State finished on a 3-1 run to extend its lead to double-digits (46-35) heading into the final quarter.
A jumper from Kenyon at the 7:52 mark of the fourth gave ISU a 13-point lead (50-37), but a quick 6-0 SUU run over the next 2:10 cut ISU's lead to seven (50-43). A trey from SUU's Breanu Reid two minutes later brought the T-birds within four points with less than four minutes to go. The Bengals were plagued in the fourth with five turnovers as they struggled to find their offensive rhythm. Ors stopped the SUU run with a big trey at the 2:52 mark to spark a 9-0 Bengal run over the next 2:09 to give the Bengals at 13-point lead (59-46) with 43 seconds to go. The Bengals closed the period with solid defense to earn the 10-point win, 59-49.
Southern Utah was led by Reid with 10 points while Whitney Johnson led the rebounding effort with nine.
Idaho State advances to the quarterfinals where it will face No. 4 Weber State at 3:35 p.m. MST at the Reno Events Center in Reno, Nev.
NOTES
- The Bengals notched 20 wins on the season for the fifth time in program history and the second time in Sobolewski's tenure. The last time Idaho State recorded 20 wins was during the 2011-12 season when the Bengals finished 24-8, claimed both the regular-season and tournament titles and advanced to the NCAA tournament.
- Estefania Ors' 20-point performance is the third of her career and the first this season. She twice scored 20+ points during the 2016-17 season, first with 23 points in her first career game at Santa Clara on Nov. 11 and again with 22 points at North Dakota on Feb. 16.
- Idaho State will face Weber State for the fourth time in post-season on Wednesday. The Bengals hold a 2-1 edge over the Wildcats in Big Sky tournament play.
