Women's Basketball Preview: Utah State

Game Notes | Live Stats | Watch | Listen

POCATELLO, Idaho- The Idaho State women's basketball team travels to Logan, Utah to face Utah State on Thursday, Dec. 19, at 7 p.m. (MST) in its final non-conference game. Conference play begins Dec. 28 as the Bengals take on Idaho in Moscow at 3 p.m. (MST).

The game will feature live stats, video, and audio brought to you by Mark Liptak and KISU 91.1. Pregame radio shows will begin approximately 20 minutes before game time. 

Scouting Utah State
Utah State finished its 2018-19 season with an 17-15 overall record and a 10-8 record in the Mountain West Conference. The Aggies fell 64-41 to Wyoming in the quarterfinals of the conference championship tournament before competing in the Women's Basketball Invitational Tournament. USU would fall 56-54 to North Texas in the second round of the post-season tournament. The program is led by interim Head Coach Ben Finkbeiner.

USU has a young team with nine of its 13 players listed as underclassmen. The team also includes three international players from Australia, Benin, and Germany. Lindsey Jensen-Baker, Hailey Bassett, Steph Gorman, Marlene Aniambossou, and Faith Brantley are the projected starters for USU. 

Jensen-Baker leads the team with 169 points, shooting 56-133 (.421) from the field and 21-56 (.375) from three, the team's second highest three-point attempts. She also leads the team in turnovers averaging 3.0 per game. Bassett is 59-130 (.454) from the floor with a .813 free-throw average and is tied for a team-high 61 boards and leads with 17 blocks. Gorman is 48-162 (.296) from field-goal range and has a team-high 89 three-point attempts, averaging .326 from the long shot. She is also tied for a team-high 28 assits while leading in steals with 25.

Aniambossou is shooting 37-87 (.425) from the floor and is tied with Bassett for a team-high 61 boards. Brantley is tied with Gorman for a team-high 28 assists while producing 15 steals.

Utah State has a 4-7 record so far in the 2019-20 season including an 0-2 record in conference play. Overall, the team is shooting 239-668 (.358) from the field, 64-211 (.303) from three, and 110-159 (.692) from the free-throw line while recording 16 turnovers per game.

The two team's last matched up on Nov. 27, 2017, in Pocatello ending in a 64-44 ISU victory. Dora Goles added 11 points for the Bengals. ISU out-rebounded the Aggies 42-24.

ISU leads the all-time series 18-15. The Bengals have won eight of the last 10 and three of the last five meetings. Head Coach Seton Sobolewski is 7-2 in his career vs. Utah State.

All-Time Series Results
ISU vs. Utah State
Overall: 18-15, Home: 11-4, Away: 5-10, Neutral: 2-1
01/27/75        A    L    47-74    
02/11/75        H    W    64-62    
12/02/78        H    L    65-81    
01/18/80        A    L    65-77    
02/16/80        H    W    83-77    
03/04/80        N    L    57-74    
1980-81        A    L    69-82    
1980-81        H    L    59-73    
02/06/81        A    L    67-71    
02/05/82        A    L    67-81    
02/23/82        H    L    65-74    
01/25/83        A    W    80-61    
03/02/83        H    W    91-83    
11/22/83        A    W    93-58    
02/22/84        H    W    97-70    
11/24/84        N    W    71-68    
12/14/84        A    L    79-85    
01/07/85        H    W    81-62    
11/30/85        H    L    74-75    
12/03/86        A    W    75-62    
12/20/04        A    L    61-67    
12/02/05        H    W    96-73    
11/17/06        A    L    83-85    
11/28/07        H    W    69-60    
11/22/08        A    W    58-43    
12/05/09        N    W    56-53    
12/12/09        H    W    63-58    
12/11/10        A    W    64-52    
12/10/11        H    W    67-65    
11/22/13        A    L    66-78    
12/8/15        H    W    81-67    
12/01/16        A    L    56-69    
11/27/17        H    W    64-44

Big Time Bengals
National Rankings (As of Dec. 10)
Idaho State is #32 in field goal percentage with a .458 average and #17 in assists with an 18.1 average. Redshirt junior Dora Goles is #34 in the country in three-point field goal percentage at .471.

Big Sky Rankings
ISU leads the Big Sky in field-goal percentage with a .440 percentage and is second in three-point field goal percentage at .363. The Bengals lead the conference in assists with 140 for 17.5 per game and are second in blocked shots with 29 and offensive rebounds with 111 for 13.9 per game. Goles is fifth in steals (18 - 2.3 per game) and third in three-point field goal percentage (.474). Ellie Smith is third in blocked shots (15). Callie Bourne is fifth in scoring (110 points) and fourth in rebounds (60 - 7.5 per game).

Cal Baptist Recap
ISU fell 74-68 to Cal Baptist on Monday night in Reed Gym.
 
The Lancers shot 41 percent (24-58) from the field and 33 percent from three-point range against the Bengals' 33 percent (25-75) from the floor and 24 percent (4-17) from 3. ISU had four players hit double-digit points.
 
Defensively, ISU recorded a season-high 11 blocks, 10 steals, and out-boarded CBU 49-48 including 23 offensive rebounds.
 
Callie Bourne led Idaho State with a career-tying 20 points, a career-high 12 boards, and a season-tying two steals. The sophomore went 7-20 from the floor, 2-7 from three, and 4-7 from the free-throw line.
 
Diaba Konate hit a career-high 16 points, going 5-10 from field-goal range and a perfect 6-6 from the free-throw line while recording three assists and two steals. Dora Goles put up 10 points, six coming from beyond the three-point arc. Goles also tallied seven defensive boards.
 
Tomekia Whitman had her first start for the Bengals, scoring a career-tying 12 points off of five made field goals and two made free-throws. The freshman tied her career-high 10 boards with eight coming from the offensive end to help ISU earn 15 second chance points. Whitman also produced two steals and a career-high two blocks.

Ellie Smith hit a career-high five blocks.