Bengal Women Lose Two on the Road

By: Bob Devine

Posted: 11/18/09

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.
"It was a little frustrating because we got beat on the little things," said Sobolewski. "We defended well in the half court, but in transition we didn't match up well. Offensive rebounding really hurt us also. It was a dramatic game as our players would come back and cut the lead several times. It just didn't go our way at the end."
The number one nail in the coffin for the Bengals was Louella Tomlinson for Saint Mary's who scored 14 points, with 15 rebounds and 10 blocked shots for a triple-double, wreaking havoc on both offense and defense.
Oakes was the high scorer for ISU with 17 points, while Pickering had 12 points and Oana Iacovita scored 10 to highlight the Bengals' effort.
Sunday's game against Cal who is ranked #18 and #13 in two different national polls, was a different story entirely, as Idaho State just couldn't compete with the Golden Bears who appear poised to make a run at the national title this year. The Bengals would commit 34 turnovers, 19 of which were steals, and be outrebounded 47-30, in a game that was largely over within minutes of the opening tip. After a 29-4 opening run, Cal would stretch the lead out to 56-22 at the half. The Bengals opened the second half with a 6-2 run, perhaps the bright spot for the game, and then the Golden Bears resumed the onslaught, eventually reaching the century mark with a pair of free throws in the closing seconds of the game. "We've got to look at it as a learning experience," said Sobolewski in an interview following the game. "Moving forward from this point it is important that we stay positive. This is not the last tough game, or the last game we will play against this caliber of team. We still have Nebraska, Minnesota and Arizona State who are all very good teams."
While five players hit double figures in scoring for Cal, ISU senior Oana Iacovita was the only player in double figures for Idaho State, scoring 15 points, while freshmen Ashleigh Vella and Kaela Oakes both scored seven points for the game to highlight the Bengal effort.
"We learned about some things we need to work on," said Sobolewski. "Cal ran a 1-3-1 trap that they've never used before and surprised us with it. Obviously we'll be more prepared the next time we see something like that. For freshmen, playing in that type of environment with a big arena and screaming fans, it can be a little overwhelming, so there are definitely some things to learn from it and then we'll put it in the past."
The Bengals have a busy schedule this week, playing at the University of Nebraska on Thursday, Nov. 19, at 6 p.m., which can be listened to on KISU 91.1 FM. Then the team comes home to play Boise State this Saturday, Nov. 21, at 3:30 p.m. before playing at home again on Tuesday, Nov. 24, at 7 p.m. All Idaho State Women's Basketball home games are at Reed Gym and students get in free with Bengal ID.