Written by Jon Match
The Idaho State women’s basketball team continues its Big Sky Conference campaign this week as the Bengals head north to take on Montana State and Montana. First for the Bengals on Thursday, Feb. 3 are the Montana State Bobcats in Bozeman at 7:00 PM MT. Then the Orange and Black head west to Missoula to take on the Montana Grizzlies Saturday, Feb. 5 at 2:00 PM MT.
Both games will be broadcast on ESPN+ and will have live stats available.
Mark Liptak will be on the call on KISU 91.1 for both matchups.
Bengal Bites (With Thanks to Mark Liptak)
Dora Goles hit a free throw against St. Thomas on 12/11 to become the 21st member of the Idaho State 1,000 point club.
Tomekia Whitman leads the conference in steals, averaging 2.9 a game. She is now tied for 10th all-time in single-season steals.
In the game against Park on 11/13/21, Montana Oltrogge passed 500 career points.
The 109-56 win over park was the 2nd highest scoring game in Bengal history. (First place was a 113-107 win against Weber State in the Big Sky Tournament.)
The 53 point differential was the fourth highest in program history.
The Bengals 34 assists were one shy of the overall ISU record (35 vs NAU on 2-15-1992)
The Bengals 24 offensive Rebounds against Carroll College on 12/8/21 set a new team record.
Against UNC on 1/29 Diaba Konate became the 4th player in ISU WBB history with a 90.9 FG% with 10 made FGs
*Ellie Smith is now in sixth place all-time in blocked shots with 121. In fifth place is Michele Grohs with 130 blocks. She played from 2005-2009.
*Estefie Ors has scored 1,605 points, she is now second all-time. The program all-time leader is Natalie Doma with 2,296 points. She played from 2004-2008.
*Ors is only the fifth player to score at least 1,500 points in program history.
*With her 33-point game vs. Montana State, Ors became the ninth player under Seton Sobolewski to score 30+ points in a game. It was the 11th time overall with him as head coach.
*Ors is now in fifth place all-time in made field goals with 558. Next up is Alison Verona at 568 made field goals. She played from 1984-1988.
*Ors is just the sixth Bengal player to have at least 500 made field goals in a career.
*Estefie now has 233 made three-point shots in her career the best ever for the program.
*She became the 15th player in ISU WBB history with at least 1,000 points and at least 500 rebounds when she had three boards vs. Toledo in the Cancun Classic.
*Ors is the eighth ISU WBB player with over 2,000 combined points and rebounds.
*Ors also is now at 338 assists which is which is now sixth place all-time. Fifth on the list is Theresa Mallack with 352. She played from 1995-1999.
*Estefie has made 256 free throws which is good for 10th all-time. Next up in ninth place is Holly Togiai with 268 made free throws. She played from 1994-1998.
*Estefie needs three steals to tie for 10th place all-time at 142 with Stacey Nelson who played from 1993-1997 and Grace Kenyon who played from 2014-2019.
*Estefie has played in 145 games for ISU. That is the all-time program record.
*Dora Goles became the 21st ISU WBB player to pass 1,000 points in a career when she got 10 at St. Thomas (MN.) She’s scored 1,055 and counting. She currently stands at 17th all-time. Next up with 1,056 points is Shelley Hand who played from 1981-1985.
*Goles is now in fifth place with 162 made three-point shots. Fourth on the list is Chris Urbanski who made 172 three-pointers in her career which spanned from 1997 through 2001.
*Goles is now tied for sixth all-time in made field goals with Charly Bond at 492. She played from 1976-1980.
*She is now tied for ninth place with Nancy Espeseth at 145 steals. She played from 1980-1984.
*Goles also needs seven assists to give her 300 for her career.
*Diaba Konate needs one rebound for 250 in her career. She now has 250 assists in her career.
*Tomeika Whitman’s 30-point game at Eastern Washington made her the 10th different player to have a 30+ point game with Seton as head coach. It has happened 12 times overall since he has been in charge.
*Whitman is now at 104 assists in her career. She also needs five steals for 100 in her career.
*Montana Oltrogge needs six more made three-point shots for 100 in her career. She needs to play in three more games for 100 in her career.
Seton has now coached 421 games.
Numbers to Watch
4 – Number of rebounds Dora Goles needs for 350 in her career.
11 – Number of Points Diaba Konate needs for 750 in her career.
2 – Points needed for Montana Oltrogge to hit 650 in her career.
4 – Blocks Ellie Smith needs for 125 career.
5 – Steals Tomekia Whitman needs for 100 in her career.
Quick Scout and Series History – Montana State
This will be the second meeting of the two programs this Thursday. The first meeting resulted in a 67-57 win for ISU where Estefania Ors scored 33 points.
The MSU Bobcats are on a five-game win streak currently and are coming off of a 65-55 win over EWU and a 73-59 win over rival Montana.
Preseason Big Sky MVP Darian White leads the Bobcats in scoring, averaging 16.0 ppg and attempts 15.2 shots per game. Defensively White is second in the conference in steals only to Tomekia Whitman, White averages 2.7 steals per game.
From the arc, #11 Katelynn Limardo leads the team, averaging 1.8 3PM per game with an average of 4.7 attempts per game.
The Bobcats have the fourth-best offense in the conference, averaging 68.2 ppg and the 8th best defense with opponents averaging 68.6 ppg.
On the glass, the Bobcats are a strong offensive rebounding team, averaging 13.0 O Boards a game.
MSU leads the all-time series 46-39 and in Bozeman, the Bobcats are 27-13 vs the Bengals. During Seton Sobolewski's career at ISU, the Bengals and Bobcats have played in 5 overtime games.
Previous 10 meetings
* 12/31/16 H W 67-59
* 03/01/17 A L 67-73
+ 03/11/17 N L 56-62
* 02/28/18 H L 60-61
* 01/26/19 H W 61-43
* 02/14/19 A W 62-49
* 01/25/20 A L 67-59
* 02/13/20 H L 74-55
* 02/18/21 H W 69-59
* 02/20/21 A L 88-80 OT
Quick Scout and Series History – Montana
The Grizzlies are 5-3 in Big Sky Conference play coming into the week. Their last loss came from rival Montana State in Bozeman on 1/24.
The Bengals met with the Grizzlies on 12/30 with the Bengals coming away with a 69-61 victory. Estefania Ors, Tomekia Whitman and Montana Oltrogge and Diaba Konate all scored in double digits to secure the Bengal victory.
The Grizzlies are led offensively by Carmen Gfeller who is averaging 13.9 ppg. There are two other Grizzlies averaging double-digits, Sammy Fatkin and Abby Anderson.
Montana Excels on the glass, averaging a conference-best 42.6 rebounds per game. 30.9 being defensive boards on average. UM currently has the strongest FG% defense in the league as well, holding opponents to 59.2 points on average.
The Bengals will need to take advantage of the turnover margin from the grizzlies who, on average, are turning the ball over 2.24 more times per game than their opponents.
The Grizzlies lead the all-time series 72-17 but in the last 10 meetings the Bengals are 8-2 In Missoula, the Bengals are 5-41 against the Grizzlies.
Previous 10 meetings
* 12/29/16 H W 61-43
* 03/03/17 A L 53-68
+ 03/06/17 N W 63-53
* 03/02/18 H W 72-60
* 01/24/19 H W 50-34
* 02/16/19 A L 60-59
* 01/23/20 A W 67-53
* 02/15/20 H W 72-59
* 02/25/21 A W 79-49
* 02/27/21 A W 72-56
