December 27, 2006

Pocatello, ID (CSTV U-WIRE) -- In just their second home contest of the season and with a record of 0-5, the lady Bengals went into Saturday's game hungry for their first victory. The Bengal's led the series history with a 2-1 advantage over the Utah Valley State College Wolverines.

However, it looks like the women's basketball team was on the Grinch's hit list as they dropped a close one in overtime to UVSC. With just under a minute to go in regulation, the lady Bengals found themselves with an eight point lead.

But their turnovers would lead to an inevitable fate. In that final minute, the Bengals turned the ball over three times, leading to an 8-0 run by UVSC to finish out regulation and send the game to overtime.

The Bengals jumped out to an early lead in overtime, taking an 82-77 advantage with just over 3 minutes left. UVSC then pulled away as they put together a 12-0 run to seal the deal with a final score of 89-82.

Andrea Lightfoot was the leading scorer for the Bengals in the contest with 27 points on 7-19 shooting. Five of those seven makes were from beyond the arc. Lightfoot also pulled down 11 rebounds giving her her first double-double on the season. The conference MVP was perfect from the line going 8 for 8.

Michelle Grohs made a big contribution for ISU which marked a new career high, adding 20 points to the Bengal effort on 8-13 shooting. The sophomore also recorded her first career double-double as she ripped down 12 rebounds.

Two others on the ISU squad scored in double figures. Kaylynn Fager gave the Bengals a big boost, coming off the bench to score a career high 14 points on 4-9 shooting from the field. The Bengals leading scorer, Natalie Doma found herself in early foul trouble making it difficult for her to find a nice rhythm. Doma played 28 minutes, and finished with 11 points and 5 rebounds. Jeni Boesel distributed the ball very well, contributing 8 assists to the Bengals offensive threat.

As a team, the Bengals shot poorly from the field making only 29.7 percent of their attempts. It is also worthy to note that the team set a new school record by attempting 42 three pointers.

UVSC won the battle of the boards with a 57-47 advantage. The Wolverines also out shot the Bengals from the field with a 40.5 percent average. Despite the three critical turnovers that occurred in the last minute of play, ISU only turned the ball over 12 times in the contest, while the Bengals forced the Wolverines to turn the ball over 22 times.

The lady Bengal's will have their chance for sweet revenge against UVSC, as they will again take on the Wolverines in Orem, UT on Jan. 6.

The team will now travel to Houston, Texas where they'll play in the Gene Hackerman Invitational on December 8 against Kent State at 4:30 p.m. The next home game for ISU will be on December 16 against Montana Tech. ISU currently finds themselves at 0-6 on the season.

(C) 2006 The Bengal via CSTV U-WIRE