Game Notes
POCATELLO, Idaho – Four Idaho State players will take the ICCU Court at Reed Gym for the final time this Thursday as women's basketball wraps up its home schedule. The Bengals host the Northern Colorado Bears for Senior Night with the tip set for 7:05 p.m.
Senior Night Festivities
The women's basketball team will honor UNC's three seniors and four ISU players in a ceremony beginning approximately 20 minutes before 7 p.m. This will be the final home game for
Saylair Grandon,
Madison Hinrichs,
Grace Kenyon and
Sai Tapasa. Please help the team celebrate the dedication these student-athletes have brought to the ISU program.
How to Follow
The game with be shown on
Watch Big Sky TV and
Pluto TV Channel 243.
Mark Liptak and
Brad Bugger will have the call on KISU 91.1 FM and
Stretch Internet with pregame starting 30 minutes before the tip. Live stats will also be
available here.
Scouting Northern Colorado
Overall: 17-8 | BSC: 12-4 | Home: 9-3 | Away: 8-5 | Streak: W2
Northern Colorado has won its last two games and enters the matchup with a 17-8 record and 12-4 Big Sky Conference mark. They recently topped league-leading Idaho for the second time this season with a 77-72 win at home. The Bears have also done well on the road in conference play with just one loss which came against Portland State.
Northern Colorado enters play as the conference leader in rebounding margin at 2.7. UNC also ranks in the top three for three-point field goals made and scoring defense. The Bears are just behind the Bengals in field goal percentage defense, allowing opponents to shoot 39.1 percent this season.
Senior and reigning Big Sky Conference MVP Savannah Smith leads the Bears on offense. She has scored 21.8 points per game while tallying 3.8 rebounds on average. On Monday, she set the UNC single-game scoring record with 40 points. Smith also has 104 assists and 46 steals this season.
Alexis Chapman is the only other player averaging double figures for UNC. She averages 12.4 points and 3.5 rebounds per game. She is also a top-three performer in blocks (14) and steals (27).
Ali Meyer has heavily contributed to building UNC's rebounding margin with 11.3 boards per game. She scores 7.0 points per game and leads the team with 23 blocks.
Four of UNC's starters are playing over 30 minutes per contest. Krystal Leger-Walker and Smith rarely come off the court for the Bears with 38.2 and 35.7 minutes per game respectively.
Northern Colorado has generated 68.2 points per game while shooting 40.7 percent from the field. Opponents have scored 64.8 points per game while shooting 39.1 percent.
UNC is under the leadership of Jenny Huth who is in her first season with the Bears.
Team Averages
|
Points |
Rebounds |
Assists |
Steals |
Blocks |
Turnovers |
| ISU Overall |
66.0 |
35.4 |
15.7 |
6.5 |
3.6 |
15.2 |
| UNC Overall |
68.2 |
39.4 |
13.6 |
7.6 |
3.0 |
14.5 |
| ISU Big Sky |
67.2 |
36.5 |
15.8 |
7.1 |
4.1 |
14.2 |
| UNC Big Sky |
71.9 |
39.1 |
15.2 |
7.9 |
3.5 |
13.0 |
All-Time Series
Overall: 19-11 | Home: 8-5 | Away: 9-5 | Neutral: 2-1 | Streak: ISU L4
Last Meeting: UNC won 60-56 in Greeley, Colo.
Idaho State has performed well against Northern Colorado over the years, giving them a 19-11 advantage in the all-time series. However, the Bears have had the upper hand the past two seasons and hold a four-game winning streak against the Bengals.
UNC won the lone matchup this season 60-56 in a game that was tied up to the final two seconds of play. Grandon paced the Bengals in the loss with 20 points, six rebounds and four steals.
Estefania Ors followed with 11 points and three assists, and Tapasa tallied 10 points and a team-high seven rebounds.
Idaho State Bengals
Overall: 18-8 | BSC: 13-4 | Home: 10-2 | Away: 7-5 | Neutral: 1-1 | Streak: W2
Idaho State has been dominant at home this season with just two losses and 10 wins. After topping Portland State and Weber State last week in Reed Gym, the Bengals host another top team in Northern Colorado Thursday night.
Idaho State and Portland State were deadlocked at halftime, but the second half was a completely different game. ISU shut down PSU, allowing just four field goals while limiting the Vikings to a 19.0 field goal percentage. Kenyon, Grandon, Ors, Tapasa and Hinrichs all reached double figures. Kenyon tallied 14 points and 12 rebounds for her sixth double-double of the season; she is just the sixth player in program history to record six or more in a single season.
The Bengals ran away with the lead early in an 84-57 blowout of Weber State Saturday night. The win was truly a team effort with 11 of ISU's 12 players scoring at least once. All but one player secured a rebound and nine Bengals appeared in the assist column as the bench produced a season-high 40 points. Grandon collected 19 points, five assists, three rebounds and two steals en route to scoring her 1,000th career point.
Montana Oltrogge also finished in double figures with a career-high 13 points.
In conference play, Idaho State is shooting 45.6 percent from the floor, 38.2 percent from three and 64.0 percent from the free-throw line. Opponents have shot 33.4 percent against the Bengals while averaging 55.5 points per contest.
The Bengals were picked to finish third in the Big Sky Coaches' Preseason Poll and fourth by the media.
Head Coach
Seton Sobolewski is in his 11th season with the program and carries a 189-150 overall record. He has led the team to two postseason tournament appearances: one NCAA tournament berth and one WNIT tournament appearance.
What to Watch For
Kenyon became the 18th player in program history to reach 1,000 career points on Feb. 28, 2018. Grandon followed in her footsteps with 19 points against Weber State last Saturday. Now Ors, though only a junior, is just 49 points away from giving the Bengals three 1,000-point scorers.
National Ranks (As of Feb. 26, 2019)
As a team, Idaho State ranks:
-No. 69 in assist to turnover ratio at 1.03 (No. 4 BSC)
-No. 59 in assists with 407 (No. 2 BSC)
-No. 50 in assists per game with 15.7 (No. 2 BSC)
-No. 31 in field-goal percentage at 44.9 (No. 1 BSC)
-No. 22 in field-goal percentage defense at 35.7 (No. 2 BSC)
-No. 47 in scoring defense at 58.5 (No. 1 BSC)
-No. 79 in scoring margin at 7.5 (No. 2 BSC)
-No. 29 in three-point field goal percentage at 36.5 (No. 2 BSC)
-No. 72 in win-loss percentage at 69.2 (No. 2 BSC).
Estefania Ors currently ranks No. 54 in three-point field goal percentage at 39.7 percent (No. 3 BSC).
Hot Shooting
The lowest field goal percentage of Idaho State's 12 players to appear in Big Sky play is still a respectable 34.5 percent. Every other player is shooting 40 percent or better led by
Delaney Moore and Hinrichs at 54.8 percent.
Like A Well-Oiled Machine
Idaho State has been one of the most efficient teams in the Big Sky Conference this season. The Bengals ranked first in field goal percentage and second in field goal percentage defense entering play this week.
Doing It All
Kenyon and Grandon lead the team in nearly every statistical category. Kenyon holds the lead in points per game (14.0), rebounds per game (7.2) and blocks (26). Grandon is ISU's top player in assists (86) and steals (34).
Downtown Sharpshooter
Ors is currently the second-most accurate three-point shooter in Idaho State history. She has a career 42.4 three-point field goal percentage and ranks fifth in school history for three-pointers made with 136.
Dual Threat Down Low
Tapasa is averaging 8.5 points and 4.9 rebounds per game this season. She has been solid from the floor with a 48.7 field goal percentage.
Speed Limit, 60
The Bengal defense has allowed less than 60 points to an opponent on 15 occasions this season with a perfect 15-0 record in those games. ISU has allowed between 60-69 points five times with a 3-2 record. All six times an opponent has tallied 70 or more points the Bengals have lost.
To pair with that statistic, Idaho State has held its opponent under a 40 percent field goal percentage 17 times with a 16-1 record. ISU is 2-7 when an opponent shoots at least 40 percent from the floor.
Streaking
Wins are not the only thing Idaho State is stringing together this season.
Kenyon has:
71 consecutive starts
Scored in 74 consecutive games.
Grandon has:
Recorded at least one made field goal in 30 consecutive games
Scored in 63 consecutive games.
Bourne has an assist in 24 straight games.
Tapasa has:
43 consecutive starts
Secured a rebound in every contest but one this season.
The team has:
Recorded at least one block in 33 straight games
Shot 40 percent or better from the field in six straight games
Double-digit assists in 23 of 26 games.
In The Record Books (Idaho State Top-10)
Kenyon has made several leaps into the record books. She currently ranks: eighth in blocks; seventh in free throws made, games played and double-doubles; fifth in points and assists; fourth in rebounds and field goals made and is tied for first in triple-doubles. She also became the eighth player in ISU history to reach 100 career blocks last Thursday.
-Ors holds the No. 5 spot in three pointers made with 136 and is the second-most accurate 3-point shooter in ISU history. Meanwhile, Grandon ranks ninth in three-point field goals made and eighth in 3-point field goal percentage at 38.2 percent.
-Tapasa recently shot her way into the record books. She currently holds a 46.1 career field goal percentage which ranks ninth in the ISU all-time records.
Just Like The Old Days
Idaho State did not need a three-pointer to defeat Northern Arizona on the road this year. It was the first time since Jan. 12, 2017 the Bengals failed to make a long ball. Ironically, the last win ISU had without a three-pointer was against Northern Arizona on Jan. 17, 2015.
Bengals Make School History
The 2018-19 team made program history on Dec. 6, 2018. The Bengals shot 66.0 percent from the floor in an 80-68 win over Utah Valley to set a program record for field goal percentage.
The Bengals made history again on Jan. 24 against the Montana Grizzlies. ISU held UM to 34 points which is an all-time opponent low against a Division I squad.
Road Warriors
ISU's win against Montana State was its sixth on the road in conference play, matching its highest total since 2012-13. The last time the Bengals won more than six conference road games, they went on to win the Big Sky Conference Tournament.
Home Sweet Home
Idaho State's win against Weber State was the Bengals' 100th home win since the start of 2009-10 season. The Bengals are 100-30 in Reed Gym during that span. Their 76.9 winning percentage is the best in the Big Sky during that same stretch.
Fantastic Four
With four games remaining in the season, the Bengals have already won 76 games the past four seasons, marking the best four-year stretch in program history. The previous record was 75 wins from 2009-10 to 2012-13.
Hot Start
ISU's 5-1 start to conference play was the program's best since the 2011-12 season. That year, the Bengals went on to win the Big Sky Championship.
Stellar Saylair
Grandon has tallied two Ready Nutrition Big Sky Player of the Week awards this season.
Bigger Than Idaho State
Kenyon is a name to know in the Big Sky Conference. The senior earned a spot on the Big Sky Preseason All-Conference Team earlier this season.
