Women's Basketball Stumbles Against Idaho State

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GREELEY, Colo. - A hot second half lifted Idaho State to a win over the Northern Colorado women's basketball team in Butler-Hancock Sports Pavilion on Thursday evening. The teams were tied at halftime, 27-27, but the Bears struggled shooting after the break, while the Bengals hit half their shots and won 62-51.

The Bears (11-13, 3-7 Big Sky) shot just .386 for the game and .364 in the second half, hit just half their free throws in the second stanza (6-for-12) and committed a season-high 26 turnovers. The Bengals (10-14, 5-6 Big Sky) were a little better, shooting .397 for the game with 19 turnovers, but hit .500 in the last 20 minutes for the victory.

"I thought we were doing a good job defensively," said Head Coach Jaime White. "But we just kept turning the ball over and couldn't score. It would have been nice to come out the first half with a 10 point lead. Going in tied I felt pretty good after 17 turnovers. I said on the radio, ‘that's got to be a record somewhere.'"

Senior guard Whitley Cox, coming off the bench for the second time this season after missing the last game, scored a team-best 18 points and was one of three players with five rebounds. She was the only player in double figures as junior center Jayne Strand chipped in eight points.

Junior guard Courtney Stoermer led the team with four assists and three steals on the evening and also had five rebounds.

Idaho State was led by guard Andrea Videbeck with 19 points and four assists, while Morgan Wohltman came off the bench to score 12 and senior forward Oana Iacovita had a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds. Ashleigh Vella also had four assists and four steals for the Bengals.

"We thought we could get some pressure on the ball and make them take some early shots," said White about her press defense. "And then they made those early shots, and you just have to do what you can."

The bench players came up big in the first half, scoring 19 of the team's 27 points, including a team-best eight by Strand in just nine minutes. The non-starters ended the evening scoring 33 of the team's 51 points and accounted for 14 rebounds. Junior forward Brittany Fernandez also came in and tied her career-high

"I thought Jayne Strand did a good job in the first half," said White. "You can't trade baskets when you're down though. I thought we did a good job of getting to the free throw line but we can't shoot 50 percent, especially in the second half."

This is the third game this season the Bears have been tied at halftime and now 1-2 on the year.

Northern Colorado will host its annual Pink Zone on Saturday against Weber State. The contest is scheduled to start at 7:05 p.m. with a reception in the recreation center starting at 5:30 p.m.

"First and foremost we have to be better on Saturday," said White. "All nine teams are capable of going to the tournament. We have to play one game at a time and get better."