POCATELLO, Idaho - The Idaho State Bengals fell to the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks 79-71 in Reed Gym in the 2024-25 Big Sky season opener Thursday afternoon. The Bengals fall to 5-7 (0-1) on the season while the Lumberjacks notch their 10th win 10-4 (1-0).
The Bengals trailed by as many as 16 in the game against the potent Lumberjack offense, but never gave in, clawing back to keep the game at a razor thin, four-point margin through most of the second half.
Head Coach Sobolewski Postgame
Despite a first quarter where the Bengals were outscored 21-10, the Bengals reset in the second, outscoring NAU on 10-of-16 shooting for the field. a slower third allowed the Lumberjacks to outscore the Bengals 19-13 heading into the final 10 minutes.
In the final period, the Bengal Women were on fire, hitting 70.6 percent of their shots and going three-for-three from the free throw line.
For the game, the Bengals shot 30-of-66 from the field, (45.5 percent) compared to the Lumberjacks 33.9 percent, but NAU was awared 32 free throw attempts to the Bengals 12 and that proved to be the deciding factor in the game.
Kacey Spink led the Bengals with her second double-double of the 2024-25 season. Spink had 12 points on six-of-10 shooting from the field. On the glass, Spink grabbed 10 boards to complete the double-double. For the third time in the past four games, Spink had 5+ steals and now sits at 141 career steals, just four shy of Nancy Espeseth's 145 steals for 10th all-time in the ISU record book.
Four Benagls scored in double digits in the game.
Maria Dias led the team with 15 points.
Tasia Jordan followed with 13 points in the game, a new season-high for the guard. Spink and
Piper Carlson followed with 12 points each.
The Bengals tied NAU on the glass with 40 rebounds each. The Lumberjacks grabbed 16 offensive rebounds to ISU's 13 but only scored 10 second-chance points to the Bengals' nine.
Next UP
The Bengals host the UNC Bears on Saturday at 2:00 PM. The Bears are coming off of a 65-52 loss to Weber State in Ogden and one team will finish week one of conference play .500.
