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RENO, Nev. – In a record-breaking performance, the Idaho State women's basketball team overcame a 25-point third-quarter deficit to upend Weber State 113-109 in a thrilling overtime victory.
"I don't even know if I can explain this," Head Coach
Seton Sobolewski said.
Idaho State (21-10) scored the opening basket as junior guard
Saylair Grandon found sophomore forward
Sai Tapasa for the easy two, but from then on it was all Weber State. The Wildcats scored 55 first-half points off 54.4 percent shooting including a 52.9 percent clip from long range. By the end of the first period, ISU was down 10, 29-19, but by the end of the second the Bengals faced a 21-point deficit, 55-34.
WSU's Emily Drake picked apart the Bengals' defense, lighting up for 22 first-half points off 6-of-9 from the floor and 4-of-6 from three, while Jaiamoni Welch-Coleman found success going to the basket, finishing with 13 first-half points off 4-of-5 from the floor.
"There at halftime, the coaches are meeting before we go into the locker room and we're talking about, 'Man…should we try to put in a zone to try to stop them?'" Sobolewski said. "They were just on fire. Emily Drake really paced them and hit incredible shots, and they really took advantage of our defensive breakdowns. We're a team that prides ourselves in defense and rebounding. We're number one in the Big Sky in field goal percentage defense; number one in the Big Sky in points allowed, and things were not going our way in the first half. In the locker room, it was pretty glum."
Weber State (20-10) opened the third quarter with an 8-4 run to extend its lead to 25, its largest of the game, with 7:32 to go in the third. ISU slowly started chipping away and a layup from freshman forward
Delaney Moore at the 3:21 mark cut it to 20 (66-46). A minute later, ISU capped a 5-0 run to find itself within 15 (66-51). The Bengals shot 58.8 percent from the floor in the third, outscoring WSU 10-7 in the final 2:14 of the quarter to cut the deficit to 12 (73-61) heading into the fourth.
"We had set a goal, at halftime, by the end of the third quarter to cut it to 14," Sobolewski said. "By the end of the third quarter, we had cut it to 12. So, I think that gave us some optimism, like we had a chance. We were finally getting some traction and getting back in the game."
"We just got aggressive, and we realized the position we were in," Grandon said. "At that point, we were down by over 20, and we have nothing to lose. We might as well just play as hard as we can."
WSU's Welch-Coleman gave some life to the Wildcats with a basket 22 seconds into the final quarter to extend the lead back to 14 (75-61), but ISU responded in a big way. Junior forward
Grace Kenyon stepped up to knock down a trey and turned around for a big steal on the ensuing possession. The Bengals pushed, and sophomore guard
Dora Goles found Grandon who knocked down another trey for ISU to cut the lead to single digits (75-67) for the first time since the 7:20 mark of the second period.
Welch-Coleman halted ISU's run with a jumper with 8:42 to go, but ISU responded with another scoring run. Sophomore guard
Estefania Ors found a seam in WSU's defense, driving in for the easy two. Once again, ISU came up with a steal on the ensuing defensive possession and barreled down the floor for another trey, courtesy of Grandon. Just like that, ISU cut the lead to five (77-72) with 7:59 to go.
The two squads traded baskets over the next 4:17, and with 3:42 remaining in regulation the Bengals trailed WSU by five, 88-83. A trey from Goles at the 3:24 mark brought ISU within two, but the Bengals were unable to take the lead until nearly two minutes later. Goles found Ors in transition who sunk the three-point attempt to give ISU its first lead since the 9:49 mark of the first period. The Bengals extended their lead to four points (96-92) following an old-fashioned three-point play from Grandon with 51 seconds to go, but WSU finished regulation on a 6-2 run to force overtime.
The Wildcats opened the overtime period with a trey from Drake, and WSU held the lead until the 2:18 mark when senior guard
Brooke Blair converted two from the charity stripe to put ISU in front 105-106. Idaho State would never relinquish its lead, forcing two WSU turnovers while limiting the Wildcats to 20 percent shooting (1-of-5) in the final minutes. The Bengals finished on a 7-4 run to seal the 113-109 overtime victory.
"We found a way that's different for us to find a way to win," Sobolewski said. "We win with defense and rebounding, but we found a way of scoring the ball well enough to win that game. That was just incredible postseason basketball for you."
Idaho State finished with a season-high six players in double-figures, paced by Grandon's career-high 28 points. Kenyon added 21 points off 8-of-17 from the floor with eight rebounds and six assists; Blair chipped in 18 points, five rebound and three assists; Goles finished with a career-high tying 15 points, a career-high tying seven assists and three rebounds; Ors added 15 points and Tapasa finished with a double-double of 14 points and 10 boards.
WSU had two 30-point performances, led by Welch-Coleman with 33 points while Drake added 31. Brooks finished with 21 points and Jocelyn Adams finished with a double-double of 12 points and 13 rebounds.
Idaho State advances to the Big Sky Conference Semifinals for the third-straight season and will face No. 1 Northern Colorado at 1:05 p.m. MST at the Reno Events Center in Reno, Nev.
NOTES
- Idaho State's 113 points set the school record for points scored in a single game, eclipsing the previous record of 108. Idaho State has twice scored 108 points; vs. Denver on March 9, 1978 and again vs. Southern Utah on Feb. 15, 1982.
- ISU's 113 points also shattered the previous Big Sky Conference Tournament record of 102 set by Sacramento State in a first round win over Southern Utah in 2017. The
- The Bengals' 64 second-half points also set a new school record for most points scored in a single half. The previous record was 62 points in a single half, scored against Denver on March 9, 1978.
- The combined point total of 232 points destroyed the previous record of combined points in a Big Sky Conference Tournament game. The previous mark was 197 in Eastern Washington's 100-97 win over Sacramento State in the 2016 tournament.
- ISU's 41 field goals is one short of the Big Sky tournament record 42, set by Idaho in a win over Montana State in 1984.
- Idaho State finished 21-of-22 from the charity stripe, sinking 21 consecutive free throws in the process. It's a new tournament record and more than doubled the previous mark of 10 consecutive free throws set by Montana in 2002.
- ISU's 22 assists mark the fifth time this season that the Bengals have delivered 20 or more assists in a single game.
- The Bengals finished the game 41-of-82 from the floor to shoot an even 50 percent. It marks the ninth time this season that ISU has shot at least 50 percent from the floor.
- Grandon's career-high 28 points marks the second time this season she has recorded 20 or more points and the seventh time in her career. Her 28 points surpassed her previous career-high of 24 points which she scored at Idaho on Jan. 14, 2017.
- ISU finished with six players in double figures for the first time this season.
- Tapasa's double-double of 14 points and 10 rebounds is her third double-double of the season.
