ISU Bengal

Issue date: 1/30/08 Section: News

Media Credit: Cody Fowers Austin Kilpatrick, #23, drives to the hoop late in the second half as ISU goes on to defeat Sacramento State with little trouble.

Editors note: This new section of the Bengal is meant to present the views of the editorial staff of the ISU Bengal newspaper. It is not meant to be a statement of fact or a statement of the views of ISU, its students, or its administration.

It is, however, intended to stimulate discussion on important topics facing the student body and the University as a whole. Comments and responses are encouraged and will be printed in the Letters to the Editor section of the newspaper.



The Jungle came alive this weekend with the roar of a fiery crowd as the Men's basketball team gave ISU sports fans reason to cheer.

It began Friday evening for the men, with a solid victory over Sacramento State. ISU overcame both aggressive players and some poor calls by officiators.

After the halftime break, Sacramento came screaming onto the floor with an even faster and more physical game. It seemed as if Sacramento decided in the locker room if they could not leave the Jungle victorious they would leave the Bengals with some bruises. The men, however, maintained composure and put away a solid win.

Sunday afternoon the men returned to the Jungle, and gave the crowd more reasons to cheer with another victory over Northern Arizona. The officiating continued to create uproar amongst the crowd as Coach O'Brien was removed from the game. This, however, did not discourage the Bengals and they secured both the win and an 8-0 standing in the Big Sky Conference. In fact, Amorrow Morgan was co-named Big Sky player of the week after Sunday's game.

The Women's basketball team had a little less luck on the road, falling to Northern Arizona on last Thursday evening. The women secured a strong lead early in the game, but were unable to maintain. The Lumberjacks overwhelmed ISU and walked away with an 82-67 victory.

During Saturday's game against Sacramento State, the women reasserted themselves with a win. In fact, the women have beaten Sacramento State a consecutive 23 times to date. The Bengals came out strong and stayed strong throughout the game never trailing, with a finishing score of 90-73. Both national player of the year candidate Natalie Doma and Andrea Lightfoot posted some impressive stats during the game; Doma scored 34 points and Lightfoot scored 27.

The incredible plays over the weekend in both the men's and women's game are vast, and I hope to hear musing this week over the skill our Bengals have shown. While we recognize and congratulate the players, let's not forget about the coaches. The coaches too should be congratulated and thanked for bolstering the athletics, and providing us with an already incredible basketball season. I think Steve Swanson deserves kudos for stepping in and helping the men in their triumph over Northern Arizona.

Overall, the message to fans at this point should be obvious- Our Bengals are worth watching! Both the men and women are winning, producing some excellent plays, and we should be watching and cheering. The student section has plenty of space available and with the recent action in the Jungle we should be packing in like sardines to watch our Bengals prevail.

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