POCATELLO, Idaho – The Idaho State Bengal women's basketball team maintained their momentum and first-place spot in the Big Sky Conference with a 67-56 win over the Sacramento State Hornets Saturday afternoon in Sacramento, Calif.
The Bengals (17-9, 13-4 BSC) defeated the Hornets (13-12, 9-7 BSC) in a possible preview of a future Big Sky Tournament semifinal and in doing so secured the 10th winning season under Head Coach Seton Sobolewski.
"The girls played really hard and with great energy," remarked Sobolewski post game. " I thought we had a great defensive effort and got great contributions from everyone."
The Bengals went into the game looking to rebound off of a one-point loss to Northern Colorado earlier in the week and knew it was not going to be easy, going up against two of the conference's better players in Lianna Tillman and Isnelle Natabou.
The Hornets struck first in the game and looked to gain momentum early scoring a quick five points in the first minute of the game.
The Bengals continued to respond with field goals by Callie Bourne and Estefania Ors but the Hornets held their lead with a four-point nine to five lead with 6:24 to play in the opening period. After a made field goal by Tomekia Whitman, Bourne stole the ball and got fouled, hitting one of two free throws to pull the Bengals to one 9-8 with 5:22 to play.
After continuing to press the attack in the first, the Bengals tied the game 12-12 with 3:31 to go after a Montana Oltrogge jumpshot.
In the waning minutes of the period, the Hornets put together a run and ended the quarter with a five-point 19-14 advantage headed to the second.
The second period saw the Bengals take a lead for the first time in the game. With 7:52 to play in the half, Ors hit a three pointer to put the Bengals up 21-19.
After taking that slim lead, neither team was able to gain much momentum, both squads playing physical and tying the game four more times before the end of the half.
After the back and forth battle in the second, Finley Garnett drove to the basket with two seconds left and laid the ball in, giving the Bengals a slim, one-point lead heading into the locker room.
In a half that saw five lead changes and six times tied, both teams' defenses were holding strong with the Bengals only shooting 37.9 percent from the floor and the Hornets shooting 37.5. The Bengals defense holding Natabou to a mere two points and two boards in the first half.
Coming out of the locker room, the two teams continued their back and forth battle. The Hornets would pull out to a five-point 37-32 lead with 7:18 to play and the Bengals immediately responded pulling back to within one after a pair of tough layups by Whitman.
With 1:38 to go in the 3rd, the Bengals found their stride. Dora Goles kicked the Bengals off with a three putting the Bengals up 46-44. Ors followed with a three of her own and the Bengals took a five-point 49-44 lead into the final 30 seconds.
With two seconds left in the 3rd, Ors grabbed an offensive board and made a super athletic reverse layup as the buzzer sounded to give the Bengals a 51-44 lead heading into the final period.
The Bengals are nothing if not resilient, with the memory of Thursday's game fresh in their minds, the Bengals put it behind them and showed their strength in the fourth.
With 6:39 to play in the game, Oltrogge hit a three pointer to give the Bengals the largest lead of the night a 58-46 twelve-point lead.
The Hornets had one more run in them in the fourth. With 3:55 left in the game the Hornets capped an 8-0 run with a layup to bring the score to a five-point 58-53 gap.
Staring down an onslaught from a good Big Sky WBB team, the Bengals didn't blink. Oltrogge hit a three-pointer followed by two Goles field goals and the Bengals lead was back to 10 with 2:10 to play.
Good teams have to make free-throws when they count and the Bengals did just that. Diaba Konate and Goles both hit their free throws in the closing minutes of the game to ice it and secure the Bengals 67-56 victory in Sacramento.
The Bengals went into the 'Hornets Nest' and shot 40.3 percent on 25-of-62 from the field. From three, the Bengals finished shooting 31.6 percent and from the free-throw line the Bengals hit 11-of-15.
Whitman led the Orange and Black with a 17 point 12 board double-double. 12 Rebounds is a new career high for the junior guard.
Ors and Oltrogge also scored in double digits with Oltrogge scoring 15 with three-of-six from three and Ors scoring 12.
The first time the teams played each other in January, the Hornets outrebounded the Bengals 46-25. Today in Sacramento the Bengals paid them back grabbing 40 boards to the Hornets' 31. The Bengals also had 13 offensive rebounds and score 11 second chance points compared to the Hornets' two.
The Bengals forced 13 turnovers out of the Hornets scoring 14 points off of them. The Bengals held onto the ball well only committing eight turnovers for seven Sac State points.
Looking Ahead
The Bengals return to Reed gym this next week for the final homestand of the 2021-22 season. The Bengals first take on NAU Thursday Feb. 24 at 7:00 PM. Then please join us 20 minutes prior to the game on Saturday, Feb. 26 as we honor our seniors in our final home game of the year against Portland State.
