Nov. 5, 2008

Complete Women's Basketball Game Notes: Concordia Exhibition

Quickly
The Bengals will host Concordia of Irvine, Calif. in an exhibition game at Reed Gym on Friday, November 7 at 5:45 p.m. The exhibition game will have to be enough of a learning experience for the new motion offense under a new coaching staff as Idaho State will travel through the rest of November. The Bengals will open their season on the road against DePaul who reached the first round of the NCAA Championship. Idaho State returns seven players, four of which are upperclassmen. Guard Jenna Brown and Guard/Forward Michelle Grohs are the only seniors for the Bengals. Juniors Devin Diehl and Oana Iacovita round out the upperclassmen with Brown and Grohs. Together the upperclassmen posted 30% of the Bengals scoring last season.

About Idaho State
The Bengals recorded a 20-10 overall season, its third consecutive winning season and were 12-4 in conference play to finish second in the regular season. Idaho State finished third in the Big Sky Championship and ended their post season birth with their third WNIT appearance in a 77-54 loss at Boise State.

Starting Fresh: New Coaching Staff
Idaho State is the only Big Sky school to add a new head coach and staff. Seton Sobolewski was selected as the 12th head coach replacing Jon Newlee. He added Angela Munger, a former Idaho State basketball player known for her talent and hustle as well as Holly Robertson a former professional athlete in Europe and Brown University player. Jordan Green continues to serve as an assistant coach; his knowledge and experience will serve to aid in the transition of the new coaching staff.

Senior Standouts
Seniors Jenna Brown and Michelle Grohs each posted significant time on the court as juniors, which will help their transition to the top-dog status. Brown started all 30 games for the Bengals. She led the Bengals in assists for the season with 114 and recorded the game-high in assists 15 times. She recorded 53 field goals and 29 three-point field goals last season. Even with her short stature of 5' 3" she recorded 61 total rebounds, nine of which were offensive as well as posting two blocked shots. Her perseverance and determination will certainly give her a winning edge.

Grohs can switch from guard to forward and averaged 7.1 points per game last season. She led the team in blocked shots with 28 and recorded the third-most points for the season with 212. She also tied for second-most steals with 24. Grohs is a consistent player on both the offense and defense for the Bengals. Both seniors recorded the second best free throw percentage on the team last season with .875, with Brown draining 56 free throws from 64 attempts and Grohs knocking down 35 free throws with only five errors.

Lets Make a Diehl
Junior Guard Devin Diehl returns to the court after playing in all 30 games last season and starting in 19. Diehl averaged 6.5 points per game and contributed to the team both on the offense and defense. She posted a 59 field goals from 147 to post a .401 percentage as well as being .386 in three-point field goals. A physically aggressive player, Diehl 44 rebounds last season and posted 18 steals. She even stuffed 10 shots during the season for the third most on the team.

The Bright Side to the Loss of Doma and Lightfoot
It can not be ignored that Idaho State will be impacted by the loss of Natalie Doma and Andrea Lightfoot who together scored 54% of the Bengals points last season. However, the loss does offer a positive note as it serves as a blank slate. The openings and use of a new offense will allow players who were not able to see as much court time previously, the opportunity to step up. Players that are expected to rise to the challenge are Verity Peets and Cara Lambert in the forward position and Chelsea Pickering as a guard.

Motion is the Word
Head coach Seton Sobolewski wasted no time establishing his own system by putting to use a motion offense that will be conducive with the 2008-09 squad. It's an offense that involves quick movement, and smart, independent decisions that Sobolewski feels will compliment the skills of the team. The Bengals are continuing to learn their new offense and will have the chance to see it in action against Concordia. Sobolewski brings the motion offense from his assistant coaching experience at UC Riverside that won a Big West regular season title, two Big West Tournament titles and had two NCAA appearances while he was there. He also served as a recruiting coordinator where he recruited and coached numerous athletes with Big West accolades.

Newcomers
Idaho State welcomes seven new players to the team. Guards Sheila Adams, Andrea Blodgett and Kayla Gromme look to impact the team as they each post impressive careers to date. Adams and Gromme had excellent high school careers with Adams averaging 19.1 points and 2.5 three point field goals at Layton High School in Utah, while Gromme averaged 25.3 points , 11 rebounds and 8.2 steals her senior year at Gulf Islands Secondary School in Canada. Blodgett comes to Idaho State after playing two years for Yakima Community College where she was named Second Team All-Conference and First Team All-Tournament in 2008.

Seeing Double
After an open tryout period Sobolewski offered three players the chance to walk on to the 2008-09 Bengal team. Kari Green, Natalie Hawkins and Nicole Hawkins. If one was paying close attention they might think that only who players walked onto the team as Natalie and Nicole are identical twins. All the media can say is good thing for Jersey numbers! However, since the sisters played at Maranatha Bible College for the previous two years, they will need to sit a year based on transfer rules by the NCAA, but will still have an impact on the team as they are cleared to practice. Kari Green attended Brigham Young University for the last two years, but did not compete in any collegiate sport and is therefore cleared to practice and play.

It's a Small World After All
The Idaho State women's basketball team is not lacking culture as they hail from nine different states and four different countries. Idaho still reign supreme as three players form the roster call the state home. All the players from the United States are from the west side ranging from Washington to Texas. Every American Bengal, except those from Idaho, are the only person from that state on the team. The squad also sports some international flavor as Romania, England and Canada each have a representative. Oana Iacovita, from Romania, has the farthest home away from Pocatello. Iacovita must travel 6,019 miles to return home if she leaves the Salt Lake City Airport and arrives in the Bucharest Airport of Romania.

Concordia
Last season Concordia posted a 10-20 overall record and were 4-16 in the Golden State Athletic Conference. The conference produces five top 20 Division I NAIA teams. Vanguard was ranked 4th in NAIA and ended up winning the National Championship from Point Loma Nazarene who was ranked third in NAIA, but seeded to finish first in the National Championship last season. Azusa Pacific was ranked ninth, The Masters was ranked 16th and Westmont was ranked 19th as of March 5, 2008. Concordia's away record for the 2007-08 season was 4-8, recording 1-1 on neutral territory and were 5-11 at home. The longest winning streak for the Eagles was three, which occurred twice in the beginning of the season, while the longest losing streak was six.

The Eagles have 17 players on their roster with only five being upper classmen. Concordia only has one senior, Center Lindsey Kingsland. The amazing part of the 17 player roster is that 16 of those 17 players will be traveling to Idaho State with #33, Lauren Nichols staying home as she is redshirting in the fall.

Overall, Concordia posted 1,862 points during the season, but allowed their opponents to record 2,029. They posted a .377 field goal percentage and were .320 beyond the arch. Though their top two scorers had excellent numbers at the free throw line above 79 percent, as a team Concordia posted a .694 percentage. Even with their small stature, Concordia out rebounded their opponents 38.8 per game to 37.3 as well as out blocking their opponents 71 to 62 for the season.

Comparing Heights: Eagles versus Bengals
Both Concordia and Idaho State have five players taller than six feet. However, Concordia's tallest players are 6' 1" in senior Lindsey Kingsland who shares the height with freshman Lauren Hudash. ISU's two tallest players are Oana Iacovita and Cara Lambert at 6' 2" . Idaho State also posts three team members at 6' 1" while Concordia's next tallest height is an even six feet.

Concordia High Scorers
Concordia returns its top three scorers from last season. Leading the way is junior Guard Kayanna Nichols who posts 11.6 points per game. Nichols hits just above a .340 on her field goals and three-point field goals, and has an exceptional .882 free throw percentage. As a Freshman Nicole Fu was the second leading scorer with 9.4 points per game. She shot a .372 field goal percentage draining 93 from 250 attempts. Fu also posted a .795 free throw percentage making 70 shots from 88 attempts. Nichols and Fu played in all 30 games for the Eagles.

Concordia Head Coach
The Eagles are coached by Jenny Hansen in her first season as a head coach, similar to the route of head ISU coach Seton Sobolewski. Hansen served the last seven years as an assistant at Concordia. She served on the staff during the 2001-02 season when the team finished with 21 wins, a total that had not been reached since her first year on staff.

In an interesting note, Hansen worked in the sports information office as an assistant director and was a former Eagle player serving as a captain her two years on the squad. She averaged 7.4 points per game and was named the team's Most Valuable Defensive Player in both campaigns.

Eagles Head to Pocatello with a Game Under Their Belt
Concordia's season, originally was set to begin with an exhibition at Idaho State will now open with a game that counts toward their record against NAIA opponent College of Idaho on Nov. 6 at 7 p.m.