Bengal Women Lose Two on the Road
Bob Devine
Issue date: 11/18/09 Section: Sports
The Idaho State women's basketball team began their season this past weekend, losing 76-69 to the Gaels of Saint Mary's on Friday, Nov. 13, in a game that afforded glimpses of the potential that ISU's freshman class brings to the team; while the Bengals couldn't stay competitive with the nationally ranked California Golden Bears, losing 100-43 on Sunday, Nov. 15.
For the Saint Mary's game, it wasn't pretty at the outset as ISU made just over a third of their shots, while turning the ball over 20 times and getting outrebounded 55-35. But aside from the opening day kinks, the team was able to remain competitive throughout the game against a much more experienced team. Idaho State played six freshmen, three of those with significant playing time, including Kaela Oakes at the point guard position. Oakes set the tone for the Bengals in the first half by hitting two three-pointers and scoring on a drive to the hoop in a fashion reminiscent of former point guard Jenna Brown. "Kaela Oakes was big in the first half, scoring 12 points," said head coach Seton Sobolewski. "She was kind of the person that set the tone at guard and was impressive."
Junior guard Chelsea Pickering had a tough outing in the early going, however, and was called for three fouls in the first ten minutes of the game, forcing her to sit out the remainder of the half. "It definitely hurt us," said Sobolewski. "With the foul trouble, we had to go away from certain things we do when Chelsea's in the game. She's also one of our better defenders, so not having her on the floor hurt."
Several times in the game, Saint Mary's appeared to be poised to blow the game open, first going up 27-17; but then the Bengals stormed back to cut the lead to 29-27. The Gaels closed out the half by stretching the score back out to 40-30 and then opened the second half with six straight points for a 16 point lead. But Idaho State would then stage a comeback midway through the second half on the strength of a three-pointer by Devin Diehl and two more by Pickering who came off the bench in the second half to score all of her 12 points, including three steals during the stretch, and the score was suddenly 53-51. Saint Mary's regrouped at that point to go on a 16-4 run to take a commanding 69-55 lead with five minutes left in the game. But ISU wouldn't give up and after 3 three-pointers by freshman Morgan Wohltman and another driving layup by Pickering, the score was 74-69 with just under a minute left in the game. The Gaels would then hit a couple of free throws and hold the Bengals at bay, winning 76-69.
For the Saint Mary's game, it wasn't pretty at the outset as ISU made just over a third of their shots, while turning the ball over 20 times and getting outrebounded 55-35. But aside from the opening day kinks, the team was able to remain competitive throughout the game against a much more experienced team. Idaho State played six freshmen, three of those with significant playing time, including Kaela Oakes at the point guard position. Oakes set the tone for the Bengals in the first half by hitting two three-pointers and scoring on a drive to the hoop in a fashion reminiscent of former point guard Jenna Brown. "Kaela Oakes was big in the first half, scoring 12 points," said head coach Seton Sobolewski. "She was kind of the person that set the tone at guard and was impressive."
Junior guard Chelsea Pickering had a tough outing in the early going, however, and was called for three fouls in the first ten minutes of the game, forcing her to sit out the remainder of the half. "It definitely hurt us," said Sobolewski. "With the foul trouble, we had to go away from certain things we do when Chelsea's in the game. She's also one of our better defenders, so not having her on the floor hurt."
Several times in the game, Saint Mary's appeared to be poised to blow the game open, first going up 27-17; but then the Bengals stormed back to cut the lead to 29-27. The Gaels closed out the half by stretching the score back out to 40-30 and then opened the second half with six straight points for a 16 point lead. But Idaho State would then stage a comeback midway through the second half on the strength of a three-pointer by Devin Diehl and two more by Pickering who came off the bench in the second half to score all of her 12 points, including three steals during the stretch, and the score was suddenly 53-51. Saint Mary's regrouped at that point to go on a 16-4 run to take a commanding 69-55 lead with five minutes left in the game. But ISU wouldn't give up and after 3 three-pointers by freshman Morgan Wohltman and another driving layup by Pickering, the score was 74-69 with just under a minute left in the game. The Gaels would then hit a couple of free throws and hold the Bengals at bay, winning 76-69.
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