2008 Woodie Awards
Bengal women dominate the Montana Grizzlies 90-77
Bob Devine
Issue date: 1/23/08 Section: Sports
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On the heels of a crushing defeat to Portland State, the Bengals did what they do best. Andrea Lightfoot exploded out of the starting gate with two quick 3-pointers in the opening minutes of the game, on the way to making six 3's for the night. Devin Diehl joined Lightfoot with three 3-pointers of her own for the evening. The Bengals would make twelve from beyond the arc overall. To top it off, Idaho State made 34 out of 36 free throws, including a school record setting 16 of 16 free throws by Natalie Doma, the most in a single game without a miss.
The Bengals stretched the lead out to 21 points in the first half before Montana closed the gap to 14 at halftime, including a 3-pointer from long range at the buzzer.
Montana's bruising style of play kept them in the hunt for a comeback in the second half. But ultimately it was their undoing as two players fouled out down the stretch and the 28 fouls by the Grizzlies sent Idaho State, the nation's leading free throw team, to the line over and over again. ISU capitalized on this by not missing a single free throw in the second half.
Defensively, the Bengals were aggressive, outrebounding Montana defensively 27-22, with two blocked shots by Michelle Grohs and one by Diehl.
Doma led all scorers with 30 points and 11 rebounds. Lightfoot scored 22 points and had 6 rebounds. Diehl had 16 points, 6 assists and a steal. Grohs scored 7 points, grabbed 5 rebounds, with 3 assists and 2 blocked shots. And Bianca Cheever scored 5 points with 2 assists and 3 rebounds. Four other Bengals scored in the game to hightlight the team effort on the night.
The victory was a huge must win for Idaho State's conference title hopes, as they moved into a second place tie in the Big Sky conference with Montana as both teams are at 3-1. Portland State sits alone in first at 4-0.
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