Feb. 4, 2006

Complete Game Notes vs. Montana in PDF Format
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Quickly: Idaho State continues road play in Missoula tonight against the Montana Lady Griz. The Bengals will tip-off against UM at 7:05 p.m. The Bengals head into Dahlberg Arena fresh off an 84-74 win over Montana State Thursday night in Bozeman.

Radio: 91.1 FM KISU

TV: None

Idaho State: The Bengals evened up their record at 10-10 on the season after defeating Montana State 84-74 Thursday night in Bozeman. The squad has won five of its last seven contests, including two straight on the road. Overall, ISU holds a 3-1 conference road record. Tonight's matchup marks the third of three straight road games for the Bengals, who also defeated Weber State in Ogden last week. Idaho State next returns home Feb. 9 when the team gets a rematch with league-leader Northern Arizona. Led by Andrea Lightfoot and Natalie Doma's 17.6 points a game, ISU features two others averaging double-figures, including Jeni Boesel (11.2) and Danica Boyce (10.4). Joanna Hixon leads the team in rebounding at 8.3 boards a game, while also collecting 8.5 points per game. Idaho State is one of the top scoring teams in the nation, averaging 78.8 points a game. The squad also ranks as one of the top three-point shooting teams in the country, connecting on an average of 8.0 treys a game on 23.2 attempts per contest.

Montana: The Lady Griz hold a 14-5 overall. Montana is 3-3 in Big Sky play, the team's worst start to a conference season since opening league play with a 1-5 mark through six games during the 1998-99 season. Four of UM's five losses this season have been decided by five or less points. Montana, which has won back-to-back Big Sky Tournament championships, is currently on a two-game skid after dropping a 58-56 decision at Eastern Washington last week before falling 50-49 to Weber State Thursday night in Missoula. A defensive-oriented team, Montana is holding opponents to an average of just 58.3 points a game while scoring an average of 67.6 points a contest. Freshman guard Mandy Morales fronts the team in scoring at 15.4 points a game while senior Katie Edwards helps with 13.5 a game. Senior Jody McLeod holds rebounding honors, averaging a team-best 7.1 a contest. Montana is coached by Robin Selvig, who is in his 28th season with the team. Selvig is the eighth active winningest Division I coach in the nation.

ISU - UM Series Information: Idaho State and Montana meet for the 55th time Saturday night. Montana holds an all-time 50-4 advantage over ISU. The Lady Griz own a 27-1 series win mark at Dahlberg Arena against the Bengals. ISU's last win over Montana was a 68-59 decision at the 2001 Big Sky Tournament championship game in Pocatello. Since that time, Montana has rolled off 10 straight against ISU. Three of ISU's four wins over the Lady Griz came during the 2000-01 season.

Last Time vs. Montana: Despite shooting nearly 60 percent in the first half and hitting nine three point field goals in the game, Idaho State's season came to a halt last season with a 78-67 loss to host Montana in the semifinals of last year's Big Sky Conference Tournament. Four Bengals reached double digit scoring led by Christa Brossman, who scored a team-high 16 points. The outgoing senior connected on 5-of-8 shots from the field, 2-of-4 from beyond the arc. Freshman India Soo scored 15 points with five rebounds and three assists. Natalie Doma had 12 points, while Molly Hays recorded 11 points. The Bengals connected on 15-of-26 shots in the first half, 7-of-12 from beyond the arc. ISU then shot just 31 percent from the field in the first half, and 20 percent from the arc. ISU committed 15 turnovers on the game, which Montana turned into 20 points. ISU was out-rebouned 43-23, giving up 17 offensive boards. ISU held Montana's leading scorer Hollie Tyler to just eight points on 4-of-17 shooting. The Bengals also held 6-3 Crystal Baird to just seven points. Katie Edwards led the Griz with a game-high 17 points on 6-of-12 shooting. Edwards hit 4-of-8 treys, including two in the final 5:30 of the game that put the game out of reach for ISU. Idaho State, which led the nation in free throw percentage, connected on 12-of-15 shots from the charity stripe. The Bengals matched Montana stride for stride and bucket for bucket in the first half. There were seven lead changes in the first half and ISU went into halftime trailing by just one point, 39-38. The Bengals came out strong in the second half, taking a three point lead, 45-42 with 16:55 to go, but Montana battled back, going on a 10-0 run to take the lead 52-45. ISU couldn't get any closer than five points in the second half as Montana took the win. The win moved Montana on to the Big Sky Conference Championship game against No. 2 Weber State, which it eventually would defeat for its second straight Big Sky Championship.

Bengals Get another Road Win, Defeat Montana State 84-74: Natalie Doma matched a career high with a game-high 31 points and Andrea Lightfoot added 24 as Idaho State picked up an 84-74 win over Montana State Thursday night at Worthington Arena. Idaho State got out to an early lead in the game, taking a 24-10 advantage halfway through the first half. The Bengals then extended that lead to 18 points, 37-19 with 4:02 remaining. ISU went into the half with a 40-26 advantage. After extending its lead to 19 points, 49-30 just three minutes into the second half, Montana State went on a 14-2 run to cut the Bengal lead to 49-42. The Bobcats then got within six points, 58-52 at the 11:24 mark, but ISU countered it with a 19-7 run capped by back-to-back threes to put the Bengals back up by 18 points, 77-59 with 5:21 to play. The lead proved to be enough, giving Idaho State its fourth league win of the season. Doma tied her career-high of 31 points on 11-of-15 shooting from the field, including a perfect 9-of-9 mark from the free throw line. She also collected eight rebounds on the night. The sophomore center played just 25 minutes due to early foul trouble. The 31 points ties her career-high mark set last season against Eastern Washington in the Big Sky Conference quarterfinals. Lightfoot scored a quiet 24 points on 8-of-16 shooting from the field, including a 4-of-9 mark from long range. She also recorded seven rebounds, five assists, and two steals. Joanna Hixon, who played for Montana State during the 2003-04 season, notched a 12-point, 13-rebound double-double against her old team, her third double-double effort of the season. Idaho State held MSU to just 9.5 percent shooting (2-of-21) from beyond the arc. The Bengals won the battle of the boards 46-43.

Road Warriors: After a 84-74 win at Montana State on Thursday night, Idaho State now holds a 3-1 road mark in Big Sky play, already matching their league road win total from last season. The Bengals went 3-4 on the road through conference play last season. ISU's only Big Sky road loss this season was a 74-64 loss to league-leader Northern Arizona. Doma Matches Career High with 31 against Montana State: Natalie Doma matched a career high with 31 points Thursday night against Montana State. The sophomore center last put up 31 points against Eastern Washington at last year's Big Sky Tournament quarterfinal matchup. Doma has been impressive in conference play, averaging 23.7 points a game. She has scored 22 or more points in four straight games now.

Big Sky's First Half Comes to End Tonight: The first half of the Big Sky Conference season comes to an end tonight. All eight teams will battle it out tonight. Regardless of what happens, Idaho State has secured at least a tie for third place through the first half of the season. A win tonight could put the Bengals in a tie for first place or a tie for second, depending on what happens in league play this evening.

Doma Garners Big Sky Player of the Week Honors: Natalie Doma has been named the Big Sky Conference Women's Basketball Co-Player of the Week after leading Idaho State to an 82-81 overtime victory over cross-state rival Weber State last week, the league office announced Monday. The award marks the first Big Sky Player of the Week honor for Doma. It also marks the second such honor that ISU has received this season as Andrea Lightfoot received the award earlier in the season. Doma helped ISU to its first win in Ogden since the 2001 season, connecting on 12-of-19 shots from the field for a 63.2 clip, and hit 5-of-7 free throws in 45 minutes of play. The sophomore center was just one rebound shy of her fourth double-double of the season, and also collected two assists in the win. The Victoria, British Columbia native has scored 20 or more points in each of her last three games. She is averaging 22.2 points over ISU's five Big Sky games. She ranks third in the Big Sky in scoring at 16.9 points a game this season.

ISU Defeats Weber State 82-81 in Overtime Thriller: Led by Natalie Doma's 29 points and nine rebounds, Idaho State took an 82-81 overtime win over cross-state rival Weber State Thursday night at the Dee Events Center. The win marks the first victory for the Bengals in Ogden since the 2000-01 season, and the first-ever for ISU head coach Jon Newlee. With the game tied 79-79 with 45 seconds left in overtime, Andrea Lightfoot hit a three-point field goal from the left side to put the Bengals up by three. Then, with 3.9 seconds on the clock, Laura Porter missed a three and Weber State got just two points at the buzzer, securing the win for the Bengals. Idaho State controlled the first half, taking a 41-29 advantage into the break. The Bengals led by 12 points with 5:41 remaining in regulation before Weber State went on a 13-3 run to tie the game at 70. Doma connected on 12-of-19 shots from the field to collect her season-high 29 points. The sophomore center was also just one rebound shy of her fourth double-double of the season with nine. Danica Boyce helped ISU with 14 points, while Andrea Lightfoot added 12. Jeni Boesel notched 10 points with nine rebounds. Boesel also hit a pair of clutch free throws to tie the game at 79 in overtime. Joanna Hixon rounded out the scoring with nine points, while Jenna Brown came off the bench to add six. Michelle Grohs came off the bench to collect two points. Grohs also tallied two key blocks in overtime. ISU connected on 47.8 percent of its shots from the field while limiting Weber State to a 42.9 percent clip. The Bengals were held to 7-of-29 shooting from long range. The Wildcats connected on 7-of-21 shots from beyond the arc.

LIGHTing it Up when it Counts: Andrea Lightfoot has become ISU's go-to player in the clutch. The sophomore guard hit a shot from beyond the arc with 45 second remaining in overtime to put Idaho State up by three points against Weber State. The shot proved to be the game-winner. In the last two minutes of games, Lightfoot leads ISU averaging 2.2 points a game. She has connected on 12-of-24 shots from the field, including a 7-of-13 mark from long range in the final two minutes of games this year. In the final two minutes, she is a perfect 13-of-13 from the charity stripe. As a team, ISU has connected on 36.1 percent of its shots from the field, 30.2 percent from beyond the arc, and 77.8 percent from the free throw line over the last two minutes.

Playing Overtime: For the first time in school history, Idaho State has gone to overtime in three games in a single season. The Bengals opened the season with a double-overtime 91-89 loss to Boise State. ISU then won a 99-89 overtime decision over Idaho on Dec. 10. The team went to a third overtime this season in Ogden, defeating Weber State 82-81.

Big Crowds: In each of its last four games Idaho State has played in front of more than 1,000 people. Two of those games were played at Reed Gym, where ISU got 1,042 fans for the Eastern Washington game and a season-best 1,212 fans for the Portland State game. ISU played in front of 1,021 people last Thursday in Ogden before playing in front of 1,512 at Montana State. At home this season, ISU averages 821 fans a game.

Boyce Breaks Out: Danica Boyce scored a career-high 21 points in a 79-76 win at Sacramento State on Jan. 12 to open Big Sky play. The freshman forward, playing in just her fourth collegiate basketball game and making her first-ever start, went 6-of-7 from the field while connecting on 5-of-6 shots from beyond the arc. She also collected six rebounds in the win. She followed that performance up with a nine-point effort against Northern Arizona and a 16-point effort in a win over Eastern Washington on Jan. 19. Boyce then had a 13-point effort against Portland State on Jan. 21. Since making her first career start against Sacramento State, Boyce has averaged 12.8 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 1.8 three-point field goals a game.

Fountain of Youth: With Chelsey Chambers out of the lineup, Idaho State is without an experienced senior on its roster. The team features five freshmen, two sophomores, and two juniors. Ali Gorny is ISU's lone senior, but is in her first season of experience with the Bengals. ISU's juniors currently account for an average of 19.7 points a game, sophomores 35.2, and freshmen 21.7. Chambers, ISU's lone returning senior averaged 13.7 points per game before her injury.

Bombs Away!: ISU is quickly approaching a plethora of three-point field goal records. The Bengals, who already have made 159 three-point field goals a game are now just 60 threes short of the ISU all-time single season record. With 464 attempts from beyond the arc, the Bengals are now 163 attempts shy of the single season all-time mark. Andrea Lightfoot jumped into the single season record books with her 41st three of the season. She is now tied for 10th all-time on the single season chart.

She's Everywhere: Joanna Hixon now averages a team-best 8.3 rebounds a game, ranking her second in the Big Sky Conference. Hixon averages 3.60 offensive rebounds a game, which ranks second in the league. The junior forward has pulled down 10 or more boards in six games this season, including a career-high 18 rebounds in a win over Saint Martin's. Hixon also notched 15 rebounds against North Dakota State (1/7) and also in a win over Eastern Michigan (11/27) at the Rainbow Wahine Classic in Honolulu, Hawaii. Hixon's three games with 15 or more rebounds is also a Big Sky best.

Charitable Acts: Andrea Lightfoot has connected on 46 of her last 53 attempts at the charity stripe--an 86.7 percent mark. She has hit 16-of-18 free throws in her last four games. The sophomore guard had made 14 straight free throws until recording a miss against Utah Valley. As a team, Idaho State has been impressive recently from the free throw line. The Bengals have connected on 119-of-155 shots from the charity stripe in their last seven games--nearly an 76 percent average. The Bengals connected on a perfect 11-of-11 shots from the line against Montana-Western, a mark which carried over into the Wyoming game as the Bengals had a streak of 17 straight made free throws. Jenna Brown holds the second longest free throws made streak in the Big Sky, connecting on her last 15.

Did You Know: Idaho State is a perfect 4-0 this season when the team scores 90 or more points. On the flip side, ISU is 0-4 when scoring under 69 points. The team is 8-2 when scoring more than 80 points.

The Play: A lot of the talk after ISU's win over Eastern Washington on Jan. 19 was about the play. With the shot clock winding down, Jenna Brown drove into the lane and lobbed a pass over a defender towards the basket to Michelle Grohs, who jumped up for the women's version of the alley-oop. Brown said of the play, "Michelle can jump out of the gym. Everyone was counting down the shot clock, so I just thought I'd throw it up and let her get it."

Double your Pleasure: Idaho State features four players averaging double figure scoring. Andrea Lightfoot and Natalie Doma front the team in scoring at 17.6 points a game, followed by Jeni Boesel (11.2) and Danica Boyce (10.4). Joanna Hixon nearly averages double figures at 8.5 points and 8.3 rebounds a game.

Record Watch: Idaho State will come close to breaking the single-season all-time total points record. ISU needs to average 79.6 points a game throughout the rest of the regular season in order to break the record at the completion of the regular season slate. The current single-season all-time points record is 2,212 points, collected during the 1980-80 season. Andrea Lightfoot and Natalie Doma are on track to break her way into the single-season record books. The pair's 17.6 points per game average currently ranks third on the all-time single-season record charts. Doma's current free throw percentage of 83.8 currently ranks third all-time on the single season charts.

It's Raining Threes: The Bengals picked right up where they left off last season from beyond the arc. ISU launched 32 three-point field goal attempts, connecting on 11 against Boise State to open the season. The 32 attempts is just seven shy of 39, which is the all-time ISU single game three-point field goal attempts record. The Bengals ranked seventh in the nation last season, averaging 7.6 threes a game. Currently, the Bengals have launched a league-best 464 shots from beyond the arc. ISU ranks first in the Big Sky with 159 three-point field goals made. ISU has connected on 10 or more shots from long range in six games this season. ISU connected on a season-high 13 treys against both Saint Martin's and Idaho. The team recently put in 10 threes in its season-opening win at Sacramento State. The team currently ranks second nationally, averaging 8.0 threes a game.

On Top of the Nation: As of Jan. 30, Idaho State ranks in the top-10 in two statistical categories. ISU ranks second in the nation in 3-point field goals per game at 8.1 a contest. Santa Clara ranks first in the nation in threes per game, averaging 8.9 treys a game. The Bengals also rank 10th in the nation in scoring offense, averaging 78.5 points a game. Duke holds the nations to scoring offense at 90.1 points per game. ISU ranks 28th in free throw percentage at 74.2 percent. UNI ranks first in the country in free-throw in percentage, shooting 78.5 percent from the line on the season.

Stars of the Sky: As of Feb. 3, Idaho State ranks first in two statistical categories and second in five others in the Big Sky Conference. ISU ranks first scoring offense (78.8 points per game) and three-point field goals per game (8.0). Individually, Idaho State ranks first in one individual statistical category. Natalie Doma ranks first in defensive rebounds per game at 5.05.

Sharp Shooting: Jeni Boesel connected on a game-tying three-point shot to beat the buzzer against Idaho on Dec. 10 to send the game to overtime. The shot led to ISU's eventual 99-89 win over the in-state rival. Boesel finished two games during the week of Nov. 28 perfect from both the three-point line and the free throw line. Boesel was a perfect 6-of-6 from beyond the arc and a perfect 9-of-9 from the charity stripe over the two-game span. Boesel also connected on 9-of-14 shots from the field over the two games. She netted 17 points against St. Martin's before notching 16 more against Utah State. As a team, Idaho State connected on 34-of-37 free throws against Utah State on Dec. 2, just missing the all-time single season made free throws mark of 35, which was set back in 1984. Michelle Grohs leads the Bengals in the field goal percentage category, connecting on 50 percent of her shots. Boesel has connected on a three-point field goal in 16 of ISU's 20 games this season.

Quick Learners: True freshmen Jenna Brown and Michelle Grohs have been a pleasant surprise. Brown, a 5-5 guard, leads a group of talented freshmen on ISU's roster this season, averaging 4.7 points and 2.5 assists a game. Brown has played in all 20 games for the Bengals, making six starts. Brown scored a career-high 15 points in her first collegiate game against Boise State on Nov. 18. Brown put in 14 points in the win over Montana-Western on Dec. 20, and 11 more against Portland State. She put in a pair of threes in the overtime win over Weber State last week. Grohs averages 4.4 points a game while averaging 3.7 boards a contest.

Lightfoot Named Big Sky Player of the Week on Dec. 12: Andrea Lightfoot was named the Big Sky's Player of the Week after leading the Bengals to a 1-1 record during the week of Dec. 4-10. Lightfoot scored 19 points in a loss to Southern Utah and 38 more in a come-from-behind victory over Idaho. The sophomore guard connected on 5-of-17 shots, including 4-of-7 from beyond the arc against Southern Utah. She was also just one rebound shy of a double-double with nine. Against Idaho, Lightfoot notched a school-record 38 points on 12-of-20 shooting. She also connected on 7-of-9 shots from long range. Lightfoot recorded eight rebounds, six assists, and two steals in the overtime win over Idaho. On the week, Lightfoot hit 17-of-37 shots from the field (46 percent), 11-of-16 shots from beyond the arc (68.7 percent), and 12-of-15 shots from the charity stripe (80 percent). She also averaged 8.5 rebounds, 28.5 points, 5.5 assists, and 2.0 steals over the two games.

Lightfoot Breaks Single-Game ISU Scoring Record: Andrea Lightfoot scored a school-record 38 points in a come-from-behind 99-89 overtime win over Idaho on Dec. 10. The 38 points breaks the ISU all-time record for points by an individual in a single game. The previous record was held by Mandi Carver, who put in 37 points against Wyoming on Nov. 20, 1999. The mark also ranks as the fourth-best single game performance in Big Sky history. Lightfoot connected on seven three-point field goals in the game, which is the third-best performance in league history. The 38-point effort is the third-best performance in the country this season. Lightfoot's 7-of-9 effort from long range ranks as the seventh-best performance in the nation this season. The Nebraska native leads the conference in scoring this season at 17.6 points a game.