Idaho State Women's Basketball - A Look Back at the 2021-22 Championship Season

POCATELLO, Idaho – The 2020-21 Idaho State women’s basketball season was one to remember. No one would have blamed the team for having an average season as they fought through the COVID-19 pandemic. There were so many barriers, so many struggles, so much uncertainty, and to simply have a season at all would be enough for the program right? Wrong, the women who populate the floor of Reed Gym from November to March are built differently.

To simply have a season at all would not suffice. The only mission on the minds of the team was to win, and to do so with dominance. Expectations and pressure came from within their own crucible of practice. These women pushed each other each and every day to get better, knowing full well at any moment the entire season could come crashing down around them. These ladies were champions far before they held up any trophy… that being said, by season's end they would hold two.

Behind every great team is a coach there to hold them accountable and push them. To simply call Seton Sobolewski a great coach would be a gross understatement. From the beginning of his tenure at ISU, he has led the women’s program to a culture of success. Where women’s basketball used to be just another program at ISU, it is now clearly one of the biggest draws in the school’s athletic department. Sobolewski has a reputation for being an intense and demanding coach, which has led the women who sport the Bengal stripes to also possess these qualities.

The moment this season tipped off, there was already a roadblock to overcome. Two of the first three games of the season were canceled due to COVID-19. Both Montana Tech and Utah Valley cancelled their games with ISU which only left Utah State to compete against in preparation for the two power five schools down the road. The Bengals took it in stride though, and had a dominating 24 point win over Utah state, but with only one game under their belt it would be a difficult task to take down the University of Nebraska just two weeks later, and Kansas State just two days after that. From the outside, the Bengals looked like longshots to win either game, and clearly expected to lose both by large margins. However from within the program, the expectations were to win, and win connivingly. They have played hard schedules before, but this was the chance to show how strong the team’s chemistry and ability was.  

“Every year we play a really hard schedule,” said Sobolewski. “We’ve played Michigan State, Texas Tech twice, Texas, Kansas, Georgia Tech, we’ve played everybody. There’s only two Pac-12 schools we haven’t played. Playing a tough schedule is a norm for us, so we try to use that to prepare ourselves. Find out just how good we are when we go up against these ‘big’ schools. We know if we can be competitive against them then we can be pretty competitive in our own league.”

When December 6 finally came around to face the Cornhuskers, the Bengals felt they were ready. After a game with strong emotions and many swings of momentum the Bengals fell just short losing 64-51. Most Big Sky teams would have reveled in that performance, and gotten on their bus with a smile and kick in their step to only lose by 14. Not this team, as stated before these Bengals are not just any team, and they held that loss close to their chest.

“This year with this particular team, every loss was taken really hard. The players were very upset, and very emotional with every loss. Even Nebraska, there were a lot of emotions in that game. We were rusty, and Cali’s sister played on the other side. And even though it is the first game, we did take it super hard. We had a pretty tough film session that next day, and I didn't mind that. I think it’s good to have players who care about if you won or lost. That loss just refocused them, and made them determined for that next game against Kansas State.” Sobolewski says.

Dora Goles, ISU’s stand out off-guard, echoes this sentiment by saying, “We were pretty confident coming into the season. We had everyone coming back, and Estefi coming back from an injury so we knew we had the potential to win those games. We wanted to win really badly, so when we lost to Nebraska we all took it really hard. Some people got really down on themselves, including myself, so going into Kansas State we really went all out. We won and it was definitely a boost of confidence for the rest of the season.”

So the big question going into their next game at K State was how would they bounce back? They have been on a cross country flight, lost a close physical game against a power five team. Just lay over, take the flight home, get into bed and just start thinking about conference play right? If it was not clear before, I hope it is clear now that this team would never have these ideas grace their heads. Kansas State thought they were going to see a defeated team, but what they got was an energized team. The Bengals would walk out of Bramlage Coliseum with a 15 point win, and an unstoppable freight train of momentum heading into conference play.

 “It’s a great confidence builder anytime you can beat a team like that,” said Sobolewski. "Kansas State had an all-American on the other side of the floor, and some great talent overall. To win against a team like that on the road it’s obviously gonna build your confidence. And I think that was the start of the 14 game win streak.”

Returning from this road-trip, splitting wins with their two power 5 opponents left the lady Bengals hungry for more. Combined with the win over K State, the Bengals won the first 13 games of conference play to extend their win streak to 14 games.  

“It definitely wasn’t expected from my side, ya know, maybe the players expected it, but as a coach you know you can lose to anybody, and you have a chance to beat anybody. I think to me it was win the next game, win the next game, and last game has nothing to with this game. It was something we didn’t look back on as a team until the season was over, and even then I don’t know if our team fully recognizes how big of an accomplishment that was.” Says Sobolewski.

When asked the same question star guard Dora Goles said “Yes, honestly I was expecting to go through the season without losing at all! That’s what I wanted and I had set that goal going into the season. I didn’t want to lose at all.”

Throughout the season, teams would not have a home and away against every team in the conference. This year due to COVID-19 there would be more of a series feel to the conference schedule. Whether it be home or away, each week ISU would play the same team twice. This made the scouting report and preparation for the games more simple, but it led to a more difficult playing environment. After one game against any opponent, the next one will always be more difficult. This is what makes the win streak so amazing, not only to win that many games in a row, but the second through the eleventh games were all in conference back to back.

“It was good and bad! Good from the preparation standpoint.” Said Sobolewski when asked about the challenge of having these back to back matchups.  “You only had to have one scouting report that week, and you only had to prepare for one team that week instead of having to prepare for two. It is tough too. The second game is tough to win if you won the first game. The other team tends to come out a little hungrier and you can get stale staying in one place for too long. I like mixing it up. I like road trips where you play Sac State and Northern Arizona in the same trip, but there's definitely pluses and minuses.”

After this unique season concluded the Bengals packed up and made the trip to Boise for the 2021 Big Sky Tournament. The Bengals took care of Portland State in the first round, and easily handled Northern Colorado in the second. All of this was leading up to the in-state rivalry matchup against University of Idaho in the Championship game. The year before the Bengals lost to the Vandals in the tournament semifinals, after losing both of their regular season matchups in the 2020 season. The Bengals went into this prepared for how good the number two seed Vandals can play, but seeking a win to give them the redemption they wanted. Redemption would not only come in the form of a victory, but a dominant performance as the Bengals won the game with an astounding point margin of 35 points in a 84-49 blowout.

When asked about the Championship game, Coach Sobolewski said.

“As a coach I just try to be really level headed about it and prepared. I try not to show too much emotion. The players, obviously based on their performance, they wanted it bad. Estefi set the tone early with Diaba hitting some tough shots early. Very, very unexpected outcome. Not in terms of winning, but to winning as much as we won by. We’ve never really had any blowout games either way against University of Idaho because we are so evenly matched.” 

“An incredible memory was made that day. Not just for me but for the whole team, our program, and all of our fans. It was just a really incredible day.” 

(How far into the game was it before you knew you had the victory in hand)

“You know as a coach you try to not think about that until the final buzzer goes off, but I think about half way through the 4th I just thought, ya know I just don’t think they have enough time. I was so happy we got to get everyone on the floor, and I was so happy for everyone who was on the floor and got to be a part of that moment.”

As the net was being cut in Boise the Lady Bengals enjoyed the moment, but one thing this victory meant was their season was not over yet. As victors of the Big Sky Conference tournament the ISU Women’s team had punched their ticket to the 2021 NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament.

As the selection show approached speculations of who their matchup would be was always present on the minds of the coaches and players.  The biggest looming threat were a large group of teams with dominant low post players. Baylor, Texas A&M, and others would be a very tough matchup. When the selection show neared the end, the team the Bengal’s would be facing in the first round was announced as Kentucky. Kentucky had a national player of the year candidate at one of their guard spots in Rhyne Howard, but their post matchup was very desirable for coach Sobolewski.

“During the selection show, there’s all these speculations you can read on ESPN.com about who you're gonna be matched up with," said Sobolewski. "They were talking about Baylor, NC State, I think Texas A&M was one they were talking about at one point. I thought all of those teams would be really tough matchups for us just because of their size and athleticism. Just those big low post players that have so much athleticism when you talk about teams like that. And at one point someone said Kentucky, and when you start comparing the teams you start to think this is a pretty good matchup. You don’t have to deal with dominant low post matchup, they do however have a national player of the year candidate in Rhyne Howard who scores 22 to 25 a game. Even with that we felt like we could handle that better than dealing with one of those amazing low post teams. We liked the matchup, and with the new format of the NCAA tournament being all at a neutral site, it made it feel even more even.” 

The Bengal’s came out hot in the first quarter building a solid lead and good momentum in their shooting game. As the game went on the long season started to set in on the women and perhaps the nerves of being ahead in a game nobody thought they had a chance to win set in. As the second and third quarters gave a lot to be desired, they came back in the fourth quarter and gave themselves a real chance to win. Kentucky showed why they are a nationally recognized powerhouse by keeping their lead on the Bengals throughout the final quarter, but the ISU squad came back with a vengeance nailing 5 three pointers and going nine-for-12 from the charity stripe. ISU outscored Kentucky 32 to 24 in the final quarter, to lose 71-63. This is the first time a Big Sky team has lost by a single digit margin since U of Montana’s 47-45 loss to Texas Tech in 1997.

“I thought we played really well, we came out in the first quarter and built a 8 to 10 point lead, and then ya know, we had some turnovers, missed some shots for about two quarters. Then you know we played a really good fourth.” Says Sobolewski “Great experience, great to feel what playing in that game and in that moment is like, and next time we’re in that situation we’re gonna do better.”

When asked about being the first Big Sky team in 24 years to only lose by a single digit margin coach Sobolewski said.

“There have been a lot of games in the past, not necessarily with this team, where a big sky team goes into the tournament, and ESPN clicks off of your game after the first quarter because it’s a 20 point game. You know a lot of times Big Sky schools have lost by 30, 40, 50, points. There was one year the Big Sky school lost by 60 points to University of Connecticut in the first round. So it was nice to know that they couldn't click off of our game. It was still a competitive game on national television. But it’s also bittersweet because you’re so close. You feel a little sick about that, so mixed emotions.”

The 2020-2021 season came to end that night in San Antonio, and like coach Sobolewski stated before, the team takes every loss hard. That being the case we remember this season as one of triumph and success for the ISU women’s basketball team. Almost all of the faces our fans have come to love over this past year will be returning to show they are still here. ISU will return to the court next year with a target on their backs, and hungry to defend their title.