ISU Bengal

Issue date: 3/5/08 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Nee Alistair D. Jenna Brown, # 3, makes a swift move around a Sacramento State defender.

Idaho State senior center Natalie Doma bounced back from her struggles in Missoula with a huge game to break the Big Sky scoring record, collect her 22nd double-double of the year and lead the way to a 95-78 victory for the Bengals. The Sacramento State Hornets realized they had only one hope to get into the Big Sky Tournament. They had to win the rest of their games. But, despite a valiant effort, the fairy tales were on the other foot on a night when five - that's right - five Bengals would score in double figures.

Junior guard Jenna Brown burst out of the starting gate to score the Bengals' first six points on two 3-pointers. Forward Michelle Grohs caught the offensive bug at that point and added four points and then Natalie Doma hit a couple of shots to put the Bengals up 14-3 barely three minutes into the game.

What looked like a run away by the Bengals faltered quickly, as the Hornets made some astute substitutions and came storming back to take the lead with hot shooting by Emily Christensen, Atty Boyer and company, and the Bengals found themselves down 27-21 with seven minutes to go in the half. But then the combination of Andrea Lightfoot, Devin Diehl and Andrea Videbeck swarmed the court with five points each to knot the game up at 36. Doma ended the half with four points to eke out a 40-38 halftime lead for the Bengals.

The first six minutes of the second half was a seesaw battle as Sacramento State fought to stay in the game. Then came Doma's record breaking shot, followed by a free throw, and the Bengals slowly began to pull away. Michelle Grohs made a couple steals for baskets including a 3-pointer, while Doma continued to score repeatedly during a seven minute stretch that found the Bengals making six shots in a row along with several free throws to go up by 10 points. Andrea Lightfoot, who struggled most of the game offensively, took over the last five minutes of the game to secure the ball, score eight points -mostly on free throws-, and then Jenna Brown ended the scoring with her fifth 3-pointer of the night as the Bengals won 95-78.

Natalie Doma scored 34 points with 13 rebounds to lead all scorers, while Jenna Brown had 15 points all from 3-pointers. Michelle Grohs had an all around night with 13 points, three rebounds, four steals, three assists and two blocked shots (she gets the unsung hero award for the game, if you ask me.). Although struggling offensively, Andrea Lightfoot still scored 13 points, with three rebounds and three assists. Devin Diehl scored 12 points with three rebounds and two assists, while Andrea Videbeck scored five points with two assists and a steal to highlight the Bengal effort. As a team, the Bengals shot just under 50 percent from the floor and made 26 out of 27 free throws for the game.

The Bengals have now bounced back from every loss this season with a win, since Idaho State has never lost more than one game in a row. They sit at 18-8 overall, with a 10-4 record in the Big Sky conference, tied for second place with Portland State.

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