POCATELLO, Idaho – The Idaho State Bengals lost a heartbreaker in overtime to the BYU Cougars Saturday afternoon, falling 79-76 in Provo, Utah. The Cougars used a dominant 4
th quarter to comeback against the Bengals and late-game heroics by ISU sent the game to OT.
Postgame Remarks
Head Coach
Seton Sobolewski after the end of the game,
"That was a great college basketball game! We needed to do a better job on the boards and fouls, but all in all, we are seeing great growth out of our team."
How it Happened
The Bengals had the strongest first quarter of the season. ISU was led by
Tasia Jordan in the 1
st with nine points on four-of-seven shooting from the floor.
The Bengals came into the 2
nd quarter on fire. Idaho State shot 42.1 percent on eight-of-19 shooting from the field with
Maria Dias this quarter leading the Bengals with nine.
With seconds left on the clock,
Cam Collman stole the ball away from the Cougars and after driving the court hit the layup as the clock wound down.
Idaho State went into the locker room with the 37-34 lead.
Coming out of the locker room, the Bengals had the Cougars on the ropes, outscoring BYU 20-13 in the 3
rd with the scoring spread out between the team. In the 3
rd the Bengals went three-of-four from three-point range as they pushed the lead.
The fourth quarter is where the Cougars were able to mount a furious comeback. The Bengals went ice cold in the period and the Cougars were able to hit 18 straight points as they took the lead with 4:49 to play in the game.
The Cougars kept driving, increasing the lead to 68-62 with 2:13 to play, but the Bengals never stopped fighting.
Sophia Covello hit a pair of free throws and on the ensuing possession,
Tasia Jordan stripped the ball and hit an 'and-1' layup on the fast break.
With 30 seconds left of the clock,
Nika Lokica stepped up and hit a strong contested three-pointer tying the game at 70-70. Neither team was able to break the stalemate and the teams went to overtime.
In overtime, the two teams traded possessions. The Bengals took the lead with a
Maria Dias jump shot with 2:50 to play. The Cougars responded and re-took the one-point lead.
Once again, Lokica stepped up to the free throw line and hit 2 shots regaining the lead for ISU at 74-73.
After some made free throws by the Cougars, BYU held a 74-77 lead with 1:22 to play in OT.
Kacey Spink was fouled on the shot stepped up to the line and drained both free throws and it was a one-point game again.
The Bengals regained possession with 15 seconds left in OT but a costly turnover gave BYU the ball back who then hit two free throws for the final score of 79-76.
Notes
- The Bengals' 19 first-quarter points are the most against a DI opponent this season in the opening period. (The previous high was 13 points against WSU and UCSB)
- The Bengals six three-pointers was a season-high for the team.
- Tasia Jordan had a career-high 22 points on nine-of-15 shooting from the field. This is also the team-high for a Bengal this season. Her nine made field goals is also a team-high for the season.
- The Bengals were out-rebounded 49-38 (-11) this is the worst margin for Idaho State in nine games this season.
- The Bengals had 17 turnovers to BYU's 20. ISU scored 24 points off turnovers in the game.
- Idaho State's bench out played the BYU bench with the Bengals outscoring the cougars 29-7 from bench players.
- While outrebounded offensively 18-14, the Bengals outscored the Cougars on second chance points 16-15.
Up Next
It's time to open the 2023-24 Big Sky Regular Season. The Bengals head north to take on the Montana Schools staring with a Dec. 29 game against the Montana State Bobcats in Bozeman.
