Devon Burningham
Sports Writer
The Idaho State University women’s basketball team went head to head against Big Sky Conference rival Weber State on Thursday night inside Reed Gymnasium.
The Orange and Black hit the ground running with great passing and excellent defense, giving them a solid 12 to two lead in the first half of the first quarter. A barrage of hot shooting by Weber State, however, gave ISU a run for its money as the comfortable 10 point lead shrunk to as small as two.
“You gotta give a lot of credit to Weber for going with a strategy and sticking with it and putting a lot of pressure on us in certain ways,” said head coach Seton Sobolewski. “They stuck it out.”
The Bengals ensured the blown lead was a fluke in the second quarter. While the defense in the first quarter was good, the second quarter defense was a sight to behold. Only two field goals on the Weber State end were allowed to hit the bottom of the net the entire quarter.
Entering the second half, down 34-19, Weber State had a surge of energy similar to its first quarter surge. Using the offensive and defensive tools in front of them, Weber State scored 10 straight points to cut the lead down to five.
In many ways, this quarter seemed like a complete opposite of the first, as halfway through the third, Idaho State found the energy it desired and ensured the effort that Weber State exerted was futile. Both teams ended with 14 points in the quarter.
“It got kinda close and our energy was low,” said sophomore Ellie Smith. “We needed to kick it into drive.”
The defensive battle continued in the fourth quarter, as both sides turned the ball over multiple times due to the phenomenal stealing ability and defensive effort. However, at this point in the game, it seemed as though both teams were completely out of offensive steam.
While Weber State did open the quarter with a quick layup, the offensive presence of both teams was stagnant. The Bengals went three of 16 from the field while Weber State went three of 11. Regardless, Idaho State came out with the win, moving to 14-11 overall on the season and 10-6 in Big Sky play, winning the fifth game of their last six.
“We just try to be solid defensively,” Sobolewski said. “Good defense to us is field goal percentage defense. We don’t really gauge it on how many points we give up or how many turnovers we cause or how many steals we have. If we do a good job with that, we feel like we have a good chance to be successful.”
The entire game was a defensive showcase as both teams kept trying to outshine the other on the court. Both teams acquired 20+ defensive rebounds and tied the rebound count at 35.
Weber State ran away with 10 steals to Idaho State’s five, yet when it came to blocks, ISU’s Ellie Smith was the only player to put a block in the box score as she ended up recording three.
“I think we feel pretty good, we’re getting our confidence back and it feels pretty good going into the conference tournament having this momentum,” Smith said.
The Bengals hit the road to take on Portland State (12-14 overall, 6-10 Big Sky) on Feb. 27 in Viking Pavilion.
