Bengals Take 68-63 Victory in Portland

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POCATELLO, Idaho- The Idaho State women's basketball team beat  Portland State 68-63 in Portland, Ore. on Thursday night.

"The game was up and down," said Head Coach Seton Sobolewski. "There were some stretches where Portland State played really well. I don't think we could have won a game like that in the non-conference. Back then we were either losing or blowing people out by 20. A lot of those games we beat ourselves. Today we did a good job. I'm really proud of our growth as a team and our improvement that we've made." 
 
The Bengals finished the game shooting 47 percent from the field and 36 percent from three against the Vikings' 40 percent from field-goal range and 31 percent from three. Each team grabbed 35 boards and 10 steals.
 
Montana Oltrogge and Dora Goles each scored 19 points to lead ISU. Callie Bourne finished her 16^th consecutive double figure game with 10 points. Oltrogge's 19 points ties her career-high.
 
Ellie Smith tied her career-high in assists with four. 
 
Portland State started the game going on an 8-0 run and maintained the lead through out the quarter, leading 17-14 after the first 10 minutes.  ISU scored eight second chance points off of six offensive rebounds.
 
The Bengals took an 18-17 lead to start the second quarter. PSU regained the lead at 24-22 with 5:14 left in the first half. Two ISU free-throws tied the game at 24 before Oltrogge sunk a three-point shot to put the Bengals up 27-24. The momentum carried the rest of the quarter as ISU took a 35-28 lead at halftime. 
 
ISU shot 43 percent in the half against PSU's 40 percent while out-rebounding the Vikings, 19-18. Oltrogge scored 11 points in the half.
 
The Bengals led 44-33 four minutes into the third and withstood a Portland State run to maintain a 52-50 lead at the end of the third quarter. Goles scored 11 of ISU's 17 points in the quarter.
 
PSU tied the game at 52 to start the final quarter. With five minutes left in the game, the Bengals took another double figure lead, 68-56, after a 10-0 run highlighted by two three-point shots from Oltrogge and Bourne. The Bengals withstood a 7-0 by the Vikings in the final minutes of the contest. 
 
Idaho State was 4-6 from the three point arc in the second half while shooting 52 percent from field-goal range.

ISU is back home to host Eastern Washington on March 4 at 7 p.m. and Idaho on March 6 at 7 p.m. in Reed Gym.