CEDAR CITY, Utah – Idaho State (7-5, 2-1 BSC) continued to shoot the lights out in a 69-57 win over Southern Utah (3-9, 0-3) in Cedar City Thursday night. The Bengals shot above 50 percent for the second-consecutive game and had five players reach double figures for the first time this season.
"Great team win tonight," said Head Coach
Seton Sobolewski. "SUU is tough at home and lit us up from the three."
The starting five scored all but one of ISU's 69 points with
Grace Kenyon leading the way for the fourth-straight game. The redshirt senior scored 21 points while shooting 10-13 and added nine rebounds, a block and three steals.
Sai Tapasa shot 66.6 percent to finish with 13 points and added five rebounds.
Saylair Grandon contributed across the board with 11 points, eight rebounds and seven assists.
Callie Bourne also finished with 11 points without missing on four field goal attempts.
Estefania Ors rounded out the scoring with 12 points and seven rebounds.
"Grace did a great job keeping us going in the first half," Sobolewski said. "Then it was a great overall team effort in the second half."
Southern Utah took the early advantage with three players scoring to give the Thunderbirds a 7-2 advantage. Then, the Bengals caught fire, scoring 13 unanswered points to take a 15-7 lead. Bourne and Kenyon scored 10 of the 13 points and the Bengals led 18-12 at the first break.
Kenyon nearly fended off Southern Utah single handedly in the second quarter, scoring all but one of ISU's baskets for 11 points. SUU barely managed to outscore ISU's senior with 14 points and cut the deficit to five heading into halftime.
Tapasa netted a quick half dozen to start the second half as Idaho State extended its lead to 11 points. The Thunderbirds tried to mount another comeback and backed the lead down to four points, but ISU limited them to just one basket in the final three minutes of the period. A buzzer beating layup by Kenyon reset the lead to seven going into the final quarter.
Grandon and Ors scored two thirds of ISU's fourth-quarter points and helped keep Southern Utah from getting any closer than five points. The Bengals opened the largest lead of the game at 65-52 and held SUU scoreless in the final two minutes for the 69-57 win.
Idaho State shot 56.9 percent from the field despite going 2-12 from the three-point line and dominated the boards. The Bengals grabbed 39 rebounds to the Thunderbirds' 27. ISU also had twice as many assists as SUU with 15 overall and tallied five blocks.
In contrast, Southern Utah shot 42.1 percent from three and 84.6 percent from the free-throw line but finished with a 32.8 field goal percentage. They struggled mightily in the second half, shooting just 29 percent against a stiff ISU defense. The Thunderbirds did hold the advantage in turnovers. They committed just 12 while forcing 16 and had 10 steals.
Harley Hansen and Breanu Reid combined for 29 points to lead Southern Utah. The Thunderbirds received help from Jessica Chatman who came off the bench and scored 10 points.
Idaho State is now 2-1 in Big Sky Conference play. The Bengals will travel to Flagstaff, Ariz. for a Saturday afternoon tip at 2:05 p.m.
