ISU Women's Basketball

POCATELLO, Idaho – The 2023-24 Big Sky Basketball season has arrived. The Bengals are headed north to take on the Bobcats and Lady Griz in the first two games on the road to Boise.
The Bengals will play on Friday/Sunday instead of the regular Thursday/Saturday schedule common during the Big Sky Conference season.

How To Follow

Game 1 ISU vs Montana State | 12/29 | 7:00 PM | Bozeman, MT

Game 2 ISU vs Montana  | 12/31 | 2:00 PM | Missoula, MT

Bengal Bites

• The Idaho State Bengals have a new roster heading into the 2023-24 season. Of the 14 total Bengals on the squad, seven are new to the program this season.
• Returning for the Bengals is all-conference forward Laura Bello and newcomers to keep an eye on are NJCAA all-American Tasia Jordan and sharpshooter Maria Dias from Lisbon, Portugal.
• This is a young Bengal team, there are no seniors on the squad this season.
• 97 points scored against Park University is the most since Feb. 10, 2022, when the Bengals defeated the Idaho Vandals 103-68 in Reed Gym
• The Bengals had a +30 rebound margin over the Park Buccaneers, outrebounding Park 57-27. The Bengals had 21 offensive boards to Park's 6
• In the Bengal's 70-64 win over UC Santa Barbara, the Bengals and Gauchos had an extremely even contest with 15 ties and 16 lead changes.
• The Bengals shot 90.5 percent from the free throw line against UCSB, the best in a game with 10+ Free throw attempts since 12/30/2021 when the Bengals went 10-for-10 against Montana
• The Bengals have only been out-rebounded once this season, a -5 40-to-35 at Arizona State
• Idaho State went 1-2 at the 2023 Rainbow Wahine Showdown. In their 3rd game, facing Air Force, the Bengals came back from a 29-20 halftime deficit to win the game.
• Maria Dias was named to the Rainbow Wahine Showdown all-tournament team posting 10.3 PPG, 3.7 rebounds per game and shooting 400 from the field.
• The Bengals lead the Big Sky Conference on the glass, holding a +7 rebound margin and averaging 41.14 rebounds per game.
• After the Utah Valley game, Kacey Spink ranks 27th in the nation in offense rebounds per game and 41st in the NCAA in total rebounds per game (9.4)
• After the win over UVU the Bengals are now 14-3 all-time vs the Wolverines.
• The Bengals Overtime game against the BYU Cougars was the first OT game for Idaho State since 12/3/2022 when the Bengals won 58-54.
• Tasia Jordan led the Bengals against the BYU Cougars with 22 points on nine made field goals, a season high for the Bengals this season.
• The Overtime loss to BYU was the first OT game in the series history between the Bengals and the Cougars.

Quick Look – Montana State Bobcats
This is the 87th overall meeting of the two programs going back to the 1977 season.
The Bobcats lead the overall series 48-38. In Bozeman, the Bobcats hold a 28-13 advantage over the Bengals
In the previous 10 meetings, the bobcats lead 6-4 and have won the previous three meetings. The Bengals' last win over MSU came on January, 1st 2022 at home, a 67-57 win
The Bengals and Bobcats have both faced off against BYU and Washington this season. Against Washington the Bobcats lost 55-50 and against BYU the Bengals lost 68-60.
The Bobcats are 5-6 on the season with wins DI Wins against San Jose State, North Dakota and are coming off of a two-game win streak against Wyoming and North Texas.
MSU averages 62.1 points per game while allowing 60.6 points from opponents.
The Bobcats have been outrebounded on average this season with a -0.7 margin. The Bobcats average 35.9 boards per game.
#11 Katelynn Limardo leads the Bobcats in scoring averaging 13.4 ppg, shooting .330 per game. Limardo also leads the team in three-point shooting averaging 1.9 made three-pointers per game.
The Bobcats average 16.6 turnovers per game while forcing opponents into 17.4 per game

Quick Look – Montana Lady Griz
This is the 92nd meeting of the Bengals and Lady Griz since the 1978 season.
The Lady Griz hold a commanding 74-17 series lead. In Missoula the Lady Griz are 41-6 against the Bengals.
The Bengals have dominated the recent series though, holding an 8-2 record. In the previous 14 games the Bengals are 11-3
The Lady Griz have DI wins against Grand Canyon, LMU, Cal Poly, San Diego and UC San Diego
The Lady Griz have one of the best offenses and worst Defenses in the Big Sky so far this season. They rank 1st and 2nd in field goal percentage and scoring in the conference, but 10th and 9th in 3pt fG percentage defense and scoring defense.
The game will be a battle on the glass, the Bengals and Griz have the No. one and two rebounding numbers in the conference. The Lady Griz average 38.0 rebounds per game with a +6.1 margin over their opponents.
The Lady Griz are also very good at the free-throw line. The Lady Griz make 11.3 FTs per game with a .773 completion percentage.
#20 Carmen Gfeller leads the team scoring 12.7 ppg, and two other Lady Griz average double-digit scoring. Gfeller hits .489 percent of her FG attempts.
#40 Dani Bartsh leads the Lady Griz on the glass grabbing 8.0 rebounds per game.

Next Up
It's time for the Big Sky / Summit League Challenge. The Bengals start the challenge with a home game against the North Dakota Fighting Hawks at 7:00 PM on Wednesday, January 3^rd. The Orange and Black then head east to take on the South Dakota Coyotes at 12:00 PM on January 6^th in Vermillion, South Dakota.
The Next week it's back to Big Sky Play taking on Portland State and Sacramento State at home in Reed Gym.