SeiJii Wood
Sports Editor
Idaho State University men and women’s basketball has begun conference play after finishing up their non-conference games over the break.
The women are 8-5 and 3-1 in the Big Sky Conference, which has been their best start to conference play in six years. The men are 6-7 and 2-2 in the Big Sky Conference.
Women’s Basketball
Idaho State is tied for second in the Big Sky Conference with Redshirt senior, Grace Kenyon and senior, Saylair Grandon are leading the way averaging a team high 14.7 and 13.4 points respectively.
The Bengals also have junior, Estefania Ors, averaging double digits with 11.8 points per game.
Even with great individuals on the team, the team overall has been playing outstanding on both sides of the ball. Idaho State currently leads the conference in field goal percentage shooting for 44.8% from the field.
The Bengals are also second in the conference in scoring defense only allowing 64.4 points per game.
ISU is currently on a three-game win streak and will continue their conference games for the rest of the season and will hit the road for this week to face Weber State and then return home to face Sacramento State.
Men’s Basketball
ISU is currently tied for third in the Big Sky Conference but have multiple teams ahead of them in the conference who are tied for second.
Junior, Brandon Boyd, leads the team in scoring averaging 14.2 points per game. Another junior, Balint Mocsan, is right behind him averaging 11.4. Mocsan just had his career-high 25 points with a career-best seven 3’s in the Bengals lost to Northern Arizona this past Saturday.
Redshirt junior, Gary Chivichyan, is Idaho State’s sixth man. Chivichyan comes off the bench for most games but still manages to average an impressive 10.6 points.
The Bengals are leading the conference in 3-point field goal percentage shooting for 39.1%. They also do a great job sharing the ball and lead the conference in assist with 14.6 per game.
ISU also protects the ball and leads the conference in assist to turnover ratio with a 1.2 ratio.
The men, like the women, will continue their conference games and will be on the road facing the same opponents in Sacramento State and Weber State.
We are excited to see the BB teams starting off well, especially the women. The starters are playing extremely well, but we hope the bench depth continues to improve. We would like to see the team comfortable with going 10 or 11 deep by the end of the season.
For the men we would like to see more consistency, especially on defense. Offense, especially from 3-point shots, can come and go, but solid defense will give you a chance to win most games.