ISU Bengal

Issue date: 2/20/08 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Nee Alistair D. Andrea Lightfoot, #23, soars toward the basket on a fast break.

Andrea Lightfoot's on-court dominance extended to three games Saturday, as Idaho State won their third game in a row, defeating the Northern Colorado Bears 76-63. This moved the Bengals into a tie with Montana for first place in the Big Sky Conference. Idaho State has now won five of their last six games for a 7-2 record in the league, while being 15-6 overall.

Lightfoot continued her leadership on the court by scoring the first seven points of the game for the Bengals. All three shots could easily have been 3-pointers, but two of them came with her foot on the line. In a pre-game interview on the Big Sky website's live video coverage, Northern Colorado's Coach White stressed the importance of shutting down Natalie Doma's inside game and limiting her shooting, but gave only passing acknowledgement to Lightfoot's game. By the time the Bears regrouped to cover Lightfoot, the damage had already been done. Northern Colorado would never lead in the game.

Lightfoot made seven out of 11 shots on the day, while sinking 10 out of 11 free throws, to score 25 points. She also had nine rebounds. And while Doma did get harassed down low, she still scored 19 points in the game with 14 rebounds.

Aside from the stellar play by Lightfoot and Doma, some outstanding features of the game were the nine 3-pointers by the Bengals, scored by seven different players. Idaho State also shot 19 of 20 from the free throw line. The Bengals are currently the top free throw shooting team in the nation, and number three in 3-pointers per game.

Also of note, Oana Iacovita had a breakout game for Idaho State, coming off the bench to score 10 points, nabbing three rebounds, and an assist in only 11 minutes of playing time. Iacovita shot 100 percent on the day, shooting 2-2 from the floor and 4-4 at the free throw line. Four other Bengals would score in the game.

This was the sixth meeting of the two teams, and Idaho State has never lost to Northern Colorado. The Bengals, now at 7-2, face the 6-3 Portland State Vikings at home in Reed Gym on Thursday at 7:00 pm, hoping to gain revenge for an embarrassing loss on the road earlier in the year. Idaho State also plays Eastern Washington at home on Saturday at 2:00 p.m. in Reed Gym.

Students get in free with Bengal ID, so come out and support the team this week.

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