Written by Jon Match
POCATELLO, Idaho – Idaho State women’s basketball hits the road this week to take on the Northern Colorado Bears and The Sacramento State Hornets in a pair of Big Sky Conference Matches as the race to the tournament heats up.
The Bengals first head to Greeley, Colo. Thursday, Feb. 17 to take on the Bears. The game will be played at 12:00 PM MT as the Bears welcome local elementary school students to their arena for the game. Then the Bengals head west for a top-four meeting with the Hornets on Saturday, Feb. 17 at 3:00 PM MT.
Both games will be broadcast on ESPN+ and Live Stats will be available for both contests.
Mark Liptak will also be on the call on KISU 91.1 for both games.
Bengal Bites (With Thanks to Mark Liptak)
Idaho State beat the University of Idaho 103-68 in Reed Gym on 2/10/21. The 103 points was the 4th time in program history the Bengals defeated a DI program with over 100 points scored and was also the highest amount of points scored against Idaho in program history.
ISU’s 65-58 win over Montana ensured was their 10th conference win of the 2022 season and marked the sixth straight season with at least 10 conference wins. Sobolewski has now had 10 seasons with at least 10 conference wins in his career.
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 needs 5 more to break into the ISU single-season top-10 steals list.
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 122. In fifth place is Michele Grohs with 130 blocks. She played from 2005-2009.
*Estefie Ors has scored 1,653 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 11 th time overall with him as head coach.
*Ors is now in third place all-time in made field goals with 578. Next up is Mandi Carver with 583 made field goals. She played from 1998-2002.
*Ors is just the sixth Bengal player to have at least 500 made field goals in a career.
*Estefie now has 240 made three-point shots in her career the best ever for the program.
*She became the 15 th 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 352 assists which is tied for fifth place all-time with Theresa Mallack. She played
from 1995-1999.
*Estefie has made 257 free throws which is good for 10 th all-time. Next up in ninth place is Holly Togiai with 268 made free throws. She played from 1994-1998.
*Estefie needs one steal to tie for 10 th 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 149 games for ISU. That is the all-time program record.
*Dora Goles became the 21 st ISU WBB player to pass 1,000 points in a career when she got 10 at St.
Thomas (MN.) She’s scored 1,088 and counting. She currently stands at 15 th all-time. Next up with 1,144
points is Nancy Imhoff who played from 1985-1989.
*Goles is now in fifth place with 168 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 sixth all-time in made field goals at 502. Next up in fifth place is Ashley Toner with 510.
She played from 1999-2003.
*Goles became the seventh player in ISU WBB history to have at least 500 made field goals
*She is now tied for eighth place all-time is steals with Lindsey Reed at 152. Reed played from 2010-
2014. In eighth place with 153 steals is Chelsea Pickering with153. She played from 2007-2012.
*Tomeika Whitman’s 30-point game at Eastern Washington made her the 10 th 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.
*She also needs one steal for 100 in her career.
Numbers to Watch
18 – Number of Points Callie Bourne needs for 900 in her career.
6 – Number of Field Goals Estefania Ors needs to pass Mandi Carver for 2nd all-time in made FGs
11 – Number of Points Diaba Konate needs for 800 in her career.
7 – Number of points Montana Oltrogge needs for 700 in her career.
1 – Steal needed for Tomekia Whitman to have 100 in her career.
Quick Scout and Series History – Northern Colorado Bears
This is the second time this season that the Bengals will face the Bears. The first meeting of the two programs on 1.29 in Pocatello resulted in a 68-56 win for the Bengals.
The Bears are 9-12 under first year head coach Kirsten Mattio. The Bears have picked up Big Sky wins over PSU, Weber, NAU and EWU. UNC is coming into Thursday’s game off of a 65-55 loss to Sac State.
The UNC Bears have the No. 1 FG defense in the conference, holding opponents to 59.7 ppg.
#10 Hannah Simental leads the team offensively averaging a Big Sky 6th best 13.5 ppg. She also leads the Bears from behind the three-point arc averaging 2.2 3pt made per game.
On the glass, #24 Kurstyn Harden leads the Bears with 7.2 boards per game including 2.5 offensive RB per game. Harden is also the 2nd leading scorer on the team averaging 12.2 ppg. The next Bear on the list averages 6.6 ppg.
#4 Jaiden Galloway leads the team in steals averaging 1.5 per game.
The Bengals lead the overall series 25-12 against the Bears. In Greeley, the Bengals are 12-5.
Previous 10 Meetings.
* 02/08/18 A L 75-52
+ 03/09/18 N L 66-73
* 01/19/19 A L 60-56
* 02/28/19 H L 61-59
* 01/30/20 H W 59-39
* 02/22/20 A W 71-55
* 12/14/20 A W 74-67
* 12/16/20 A W 63-50
# 03/10/21 N W 65-55 (Big Sky Semifinals)
* 01/29/22 H W 68-56
Quick Scout and Series History - Sacramento State Hornets
This will be the second time this season the Bengals and Hornets have met. The first meeting of the two programs, the Hornets handed ISU its second conference loss of the season 73-57 in Pocatello in January.
Heading into their game with Weber State on Thursday, the Hornets are on a four-game winning streak their last loss coming to Weber State in Ogden on January 29.
The Hornets sit in fourth place in the conference standings currently with the chance for shake up as they play Idaho, EWU, Montana and Montana State in the final two weeks of the season after the Bengals face them on Saturday.
The Hornets are in the middle of one of their best turnarounds in program history. Last season the Hornets finished 3-22 and are now 13-10 and 9-5 in Big Sky play.
Lianna Tillman leads the conference in scoring averaging 20.3 ppg, 16th in NCAA DI.
Isnelle Natabou leads the conference in rebounds averaging 12.2 per game, 3rd in NCAA DI. controlling these two players will be pivotal for the Bengals to be able to win.
The Bengals lead the all-time series 44-8. In Sacramento the Bengals hold a 20-5 series advantage.
Previous 10 meetings
* 02/11/17 H W 79-60
* 01/20/18 A W 85-71
* 2/15/18 H W 83-71
* 01/12/19 H W 73-43
* 01/31/19 A W 56-42
* 01/04/20 H W 80-62
* 02/08/20 A W 75-51
* 01/14/21 A W 69-57
* 01/16/21 A W 77-70
* 01/27/22 H L 73-57
