Austen Hunzeker
Staff Writer
The Lady Bengals started their 2024-25 basketball season Monday, Nov. 4, beating the Arizona Christian University Firestorm 91-52.
The record was set early in the game as the Bengals held the tone for the evening.
Forward Piper Carlson scored first for the night with a layup and then again in the first quarter with another layup. Guard Sophia Covello made consistent plays throughout the night, starting in the first quarter with a jump shot and two three-pointer shots.
The first quarter ended 21-8 in favor of the Bengals. Right away in the second quarter, Guard Nika Lokica scored with a layup and a three-pointer shot by Covello. Lokica quickly added another successful layup to the score, with Halle Payne from the Firestorm close behind with another.
The quarter was consistent for the Bengals until Firestorm’s Mae Washington scored a successful jump shot – quickly followed by a three-pointer shot by Firestorm’s Taylor Schwab. The half ended at 49-18 following a jump shot by Covello.
The third quarter was heated as the Firestorm made it clear they wanted to catch up. They played more aggressively, attempting to score three times and handling a block and two rebounds before Bengal Carlson scored with a layup about a minute and a half in.
Carlson scored another layup, beginning a back-and-forth scoring match between the two teams.
Firestorm’s Emily Till scored a layup, followed by Bengal Forward Halle Wright with a layup, a jump shot by Till, a tip-in and successful free throw by Carlson, a three-pointer by Firestorm’s Lauren Gunn, and a layup by Carlson.
Guard Priscila Varela scored significant points toward the end of the third quarter as well, including two layups and a free throw in conjunction with two three-pointers by Lokica and two free throws from Wright, setting the score at 73-31 going into the last quarter.
The Firestorm began the quarter still determined, scoring four times with layups by Shaylynn De Yager and Schwab, a jump shot by Washington, and a three-pointer by Addison Neal. They held out through the quarter, scoring 11 times with a few points placed by the Bengals, but still not enough to take over the game.
The final score was a Bengal win 91-52, with Firestorm Braeli Adrian scoring a free throw with three seconds to spare.
“We started out ready to play,” Covello said in regards to opening the season with a win. “We worked hard and put in a lot of effort.”
Head Coach Seton Sobolewski commented on the win after receiving a question about the potential expected win with a non-D1 team at the press conference that followed the game.
“They were a hot team,” Sobolewski said. “They just had two top 25 wins this week before coming to play us.”
He went on to talk about the goals the ISU Bengals accomplished in their first game of the season.
It was good to get everybody in,” Sobolewski said. “We set some goals and accomplished them. We wanted to reduce our turnovers this game, we wanted to reduce our fouling, and we accomplished both of those things. I think we’re on the right track, and I’m proud of our effort.”
The Lady Bengals are set to face the California Golden Bears on Monday, Nov. 11, at 7 p.m. in Berkeley, California.
