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POCATELLO, Idaho - The Idaho State women's basketball team returns home for both of its games this week against Northern Colorado on Thursday, Jan. 30, at 7 p.m. (MST) and Southern Utah on Saturday, Feb. 1 at 2 p.m. (MST). Thursday night's game will be played in honor of Mental Health Awareness.

The games will feature live stats, video, and audio brought ot you by Mark Liptak and KISU 91.1. The pregame show will begin approximately 20 minutes before game time.

Scouting Northern Colorado
The Bears' roster is on the younger side with seven underclassmen, one junior, two seniors, and a graduate-transfer from Colorado Christian. The projected starters are Alexis Chapman, Alisha Davis, Bridget Hintz, Micayla Isenbart, and Jasmine Gayles.

Chapman leads UNC and is ninth in the Big Sky with 13.1 points per game, shooting .339 from field-goal range and .346 from three. The junior is leading the Bears in field goals made (79) and is second in the BSC in three-pointers made (41).  

Davis follows Chapman with 9.6 points per game, shooting a team-high .479 from the floor. She leads the Bears in rebounds (6.6 pg) and blocks (2.2 pg), earning her an eighth place ranking in the BSC in boards and second in blocks. 

Hintz is shooting .446 from field-goal range. Both Hintz and Davis have yet to make a three-point attempt this season. Hintz leads the team in fouls, averaging 2.5 per game.

Isenbart has a team-best .389 three-point average, however, she only has 54 attempts compared to Champan's 119. She is also one of UNC's better free-throw shooters, going .737 from the free-throw line while tossing a team second-best 26 assists. Gayles leads in assists with 29 (1.7 pg) and is shooting a team second-best .747 from the free-throw line.

UNC, who was picked sixth in the coaches' pre-season poll and fifth by the media, has tallied a 8-9 record so far in the 2019-20 season and is 4-4 in the Big Sky. The Bears currently sit sixth in the Big Sky standings, just one place ahead of ISU.

Overall, the team is producing 59.6 points per game while shooting 338-932 (.363) from the field and 81-269 (.301) from three. UNC is second in the Big Sky in rebounding offense (696 - 40.94 per game) and blocked shots (83 - 4.9 per game).

The Bears finished their 2018-19 season with an 21-11 overall record and a 15-5 conference finish. The team is led by second-year Head Coach Jenny Huth. In her first season, she led the team to its third consecutive 20-plus win season as the Bears took second place in the Big Sky and qualified for their fourth trip to the WNIT where they fell to Wyoming in the first round. Three UNC players earned All-Big Sky honors: Savannah Smith (first team), Ali Meyer (third team) and Krystal Leger-Walker (honorable mention). Northern Colorado led the Big Sky in rebound margin in Huth's first season with a +3.4 mark and also ranked in the top 4 in both scoring offense (68.6 ppg) and defense (64.6 ppg).

ISU fell to UNC in both of last season's match-ups. The last meeting ended in a 61-59 Bear victory on Feb. 28, 2019, in Pocatello. ISU held a lead for 33 minutes of the game including a seven-point lead heading into halftime. Each of Northern Colorado's seven players scored two points in the final period while Idaho State had an eight-minute scoring drought in the fourth, allowing UNC to take command for the first time with three minutes remaining in the contest that would last till the final buzzer. The Bengals shot 39.1 percent from the floor and 37.5 percent from three-point range while tallying 12 assists, three blocks and five steals. The Bears shot 36.2 percent overall and 30.4 percent from deep while collecting nine assists, three blocks and a steal. UNC also went 12-14 from the free throw line.

ISU leads the all-time series, 19-12. UNC has won seven of the last ten games and five of the last five. Head Coach Seton Sobolewski is 13-12 in his career vs. Northern Colorado.

All-Time Series Results
ISU vs. UNC
Overall: 19-12, Home: 8-6, Away: 9-5, Neutral: 2-1        
    12/05/86    A    W    72-58    
    11/28/87    N    W    80-61    
*    01/13/07    A    W    92-66    
*    02/08/07    H    W    90-65    
*    01/03/08    H    W    86-66    
*    02/09/08    A    W    76-63    
*    01/02/09    A    W    60-55    
*    02/07/09    H    W    63-58    
*    01/09/10    H    W    74-65    
*    02/11/10    A    W    62-51    
*    02/28/11    A    L    49-73    
*    03/05/11    H    W    69-61    
*    01/02/12    H    W    57-52    
*    01/26/12    A    W    64-50    
+    03/10/12    H    W    49-46    
*    01/05/13    A    L    71-63    
*    01/31/13    H    L    50-49    
*    01/11/14    H    L    62-55    
*    02/06/14    A    W    79-71    
*    01/29/15    H    W    70-61    
*    01/07/16    A    L    48-47    
*    02/06/16    H    L    61-59    
+    03/07/16    N    W    54-45    
*    01/19/17    H    L    77-62    
*    02/18/17    A    W    68-58    
+    03/08/17    N    W    60-59    
*    01/13/18    H    L    63-57    
*    02/08/18    A    L    75-52    
+    03/09/18    N    L    66-73    
*    01/19/19    A    L    60-56    
*    02/28/19    H    L    61-59

Big Time Bengals
National Rankings (As of Jan. 26)
Idaho State is No. 37 in three-point field goal percentage (.356).

Big Sky Rankings (Based on Conference Games)
ISU leads the Big Sky in field-goal percentage (.433) and rebounding defense (614 - 34.11 per game). The Bengals are second in the three-point percentage (.356) and three-point percentage defense (.296) while finishing third in steals (162 - 9.0 per game), assists (275- 15.3 per game), scoring defense (62.78 ppg), and field-goal percentage defense (.386).

Callie Bourne is sixth in the BSC in rebounds with 130 for an average of 7.2 per game and fourth in defensive boards with 101. Dora Goles is third in steals with 42, averaging 2.3 per game and fourth in 3-pointers made with 40. Ellie Smith is fourth in blocked shots with 32.

Trends
Bourne has recorded double-digit points the last seven games and has reached double-digit points in all but four games this season. Goles had produced double-digits in six of nine conference games while Diaba Konate follows with double-digits in four conference games. 

The Bengals have out-rebounded their opponents in all but five of their 18 games so far this season.

Recap: MSU
ISU dropped its contest at Montana State 67-59 Saturday afternoon in Bozeman. The Bobcats shot 43 percent from the field, 14 percent from the three and went 13-17 from the free-throw line. The Bengals shot 44 percent from the field, 27 percent from the three and 5-8 from the free throw line. The difference maker in the game came on the glass with the Bobcats out rebounding the Bengals 38-31 with 14 of those rebounds being offensive.

2019-20 Big Sky Standings
School                        Big Sky    Pct.    Overall    Home    Away    Streak
Montana State            8-1            0.889    12-6        7-2         5-3        W4
Idaho                          7-1            0.875    12-5         6-0        6-3        W5
Northern Arizona        6-3            0.667    9-9          4-3         4-5        W1
Portland State            6-4            0.600    12-8        7-3         5-4        W1
Montana                     5-4            0.556    10-8        6-4         4-3        W1
Northern Colorado     4-4            0.500    8-9          3-4         5-5        W1
Idaho State                4-5            0.444    8-10        4-3         4-7        L1
Southern Utah            3-5            0.375    9-8         8-1         1-7        L1
Sacramento State      3-6            0.333    5-13        3-5        2-8        L1
Eastern Washington   1-7            0.125    2-15       2-4        0-10        L7
Weber State              1-8            0.111    3-15         1-5        2-10        L5