The Bengal Sports Staff
Men’s Basketball:
SUU 76, ISU 68
The ISU men’s basketball team saw its season came to an end on Tuesday evening at the Reno Events Center after a 76-68 loss to Southern Utah in the opening round of the Big Sky Conference tournament.
Brandon Boyd led ISU with 22 points and Geno Luzcando scored 21 points in his final game as a Bengal. Jared Stutzman finished with 11.
ISU shot 44.1 percent from the field but was 3-of-17 from the three-point line and 13-of-22 from the free throw line. The Bengals were out rebounded 39-34.
Southern Utah shot 42.9 percent from the field and was 21-of-26 from the free throw line and 7-of-21 from the three-point line.
SUU built a 13-point lead early in the second half. The Bengals made several runs and got within two with 11:10 left in the game.
ISU got no closer than three points the rest of the way.
Women’s Basketball:
ISU 59, SUU 49
The women’s basketball halted a fourth-period comeback attempt to defeat Southern Utah, 59-49, for its 20th win of the season in the first-round of the Big Sky Conference Tournament at the Reno Events Center. It marks the fifth time in ISU program history that the Bengals have recorded at least 20 wins.
ISU held Southern Utah to 33.3 percent shooting from the floor, including 13.3 percent from long range in addition to forcing 15 turnovers.
The Bengals were led by Estefania Ors who scored a season-high 20 points off 6-of-9 from the floor and 4-of-7 from three. Saylair Grandon added 16 points off 5-of-8 from the floor to go along with a game-high four assists.
ISU turned it around in the second, shooting 72.7 percent from the floor for 19 second-quarter points.
ISU limited Southern Utah to 20 percent shooting in the second quarter and forced four turnovers to limit the Thunderbirds’ offensive opportunities.
ISU 113, Weber 109
In a record-breaking performance, the women’s basketball team overcame a 25-point third-quarter deficit to upend Weber State, 113-109, in a thrilling overtime victory.
The Wildcats scored 55 first-half points off 54.4 percent shooting, including a 52.9 percent clip from long range. By the end of the first period, ISU was down 10, but by the end of the second the Bengals faced a 21-point deficit.
Weber State opened the third quarter with an 8-4 run to extend its lead to 25, its largest of the game.
ISU capped a 5-0 run to find itself within 15. The Bengals shot 58.8 percent from the floor in the third, outscoring WSU 10-7 in the final 2:14 of the quarter to cut the deficit to 12 heading into the fourth.
Dora Goles found Saylair Grandon who knocked down another trey for ISU to cut the lead to single digits.
The Wildcats opened the overtime period with a trey from Drake, and WSU held the lead until the 2:18 mark when Brooke Blair converted two from the charity stripe to put ISU in front 105-106.
ISU would never relinquish its lead, forcing two WSU turnovers while limiting the Wildcats to 20 percent shooting (1-of-5) in the final minutes. The Bengals finished on a 7-4 run to seal the 113-109 overtime victory.
Northern Colorado 73, ISU 66
The magical Big Sky Conference Tournament run came to an end for women’s basketball as the Bengals fell to No. 1 Northern Colorado, 73-66, in the semifinals.
ISU nearly completed another miraculous comeback after being down by as many as 18 points, but the Bears halted ISU’s final attempts to seal the win.
Women’s Tennis:
ISU 5, Weber 2
ISU battled for the doubles point, winning at No. 2 and No. 3 singles to secure the doubles point. Huibre-Mare Botes and Louise-Mare Botes fell 6-1 at No. 1 doubles, but Madison Fenske and Melissa Coburn responded with a big 6-3 win over Weber State’s Tereza Pilzova and Emily Tanner at No. 3 doubles. Megan Poe and Hristina Cvetkovic then secured the doubles point with a 6-3 win over Sara Parker and McKenna Lloyd at No. 2 singles.
In singles play, ISU collected wins at Nos. 1, 2, 3, and 6 to secure the 5-2 win. Louise-Mare Botes opened the singles victories with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Pilzova at No. 3 singles while Cvetkovic followed with a 6-1, 7-5 win at over Caitlin Herb at No. 1 singles. Huibre-Mare Botes continued the winning streak with a 6-3, 6-3 win over Pei-Hsuan Kuo at No. 2 singles, and Megan Poe completed the singles wins with a three-set battle over WSU’s Lloyd at No. 6 singles, -6, 6-4, 13-11.
Softball
Utah Valley 6, ISU 3
ISU fell to Utah Valley in the first day of the Colorado State Classic.
The Bengals had eight hits on the day as Makenzie VanSickle was 2-4 and Ashlyn Ames had two hits, one being a homer.
Ames took the loss against UVU. She pitched six innings, allowing 10 hits, six runs, three walks and three strike outs.
St. Johns 11, ISU 0
Mariah Mulcahy took the loss against St. Johns as she went the distance, allowing 13 hits, 11 runs (10 earned), four walks and four strikeouts.
ISU had four hits and committed six errors. St. Johns scored its 11 runs on 13 hits. The Bengals trailed 4-0 after two innings and 6-0 after six. St. Johns then scored five runs in the seventh to earn the 11-0 win.
ISU 7, UVU 3
Mariah Mulcahy earned the win as she pitched the final 2.2 innings and did not allow a hit while walking only one batter. The Bengals then exploded for five runs on seven hits in the bottom of the sixth inning to break the game open.
Colorado State 15, ISU 6
The Bengals lost 15-6 in six innings in the first game of what was a continuation from a contest that was called due to darkness on Saturday. ISU had 10 hits and committed two errors while the Rams scored 15 runs on 16 hits and committed two errors.
Colorado State 8, ISU 1
Mulcahy went five innings and took the loss. ISU trailed 4-1 after three innings and CSU added two runs in the fifth and sixth inning.
Idaho State was held to three hits while Colorado State had eight hits.
