ISU Women's Basketball

POCATELLO, Idaho – The 2023-24 Big Sky / Summit League Challenge is here. This week the Bengals will play a pair of matches against Summit League competition starting with the North Dakota Fighting Hawks at Home in Reed Gym, Wednesday at 7:00 PM.

The radio broadcast for this week's games will be a web stream only on KISU.org due to conflicts between the men's and women's basketball schedules.

How To Follow
ISU vs North Dakota | 1/3/24 | Reed Gym | 7:00 PM

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.
• The Bengals had one of their best 4th quarters of the season against Montana State, the Bengals outscored the Bobcats 17-5 over the final six minutes of play in a comeback attempt which fell just short.
• In the opening weekend of Big Sky play, the Bengals were outrebounded 77-58, a departure from the play on the glass up to this point in the season for the Orange and Black.
• Maria Dias had a strong opening weekend of big sky play averaging 18 points per game shooting 50 percent from the floor and 50 percent from three-point range. The Bengal was also nearly perfect from the charity stripe hitting 12 of 13 free throw attempts.

Quick Look – North Dakota Fighting Hawks

• The UND Fighting Hawks are 3-10 on the season with wins against Concordia College, Minot State, and Eastern Michigan. They have played common opponent Montana State who defeated the Fighting Hawks 60-53 on 11/19.
• This is the 13th all-time meeting of the two programs with North Dakota holding an 8-5 edge over the Bengals. In Reed Gym the series is tied 3-3. The previous meetings came in the 2018 season when UND was still a member of the Big Sky Conference. The Bengals took both games that season, the final game being a 68-55 for the Bengals in North Dakota.
• The Fighting Hawks average 62.7 points per game led by #11 Kacie Borowicz who is averaging a whopping 21 points per game on the season. One other UND player is averaging double-digit scoring, #05 Kiyah Hurst bringing in 10.9 points per game. UND's opponents have scored 71.6 ppg against the Fighting Hawks on average this season. A -8.9 scoring margin for UND.
• UND is a solid free throw shooting team, making .702 percent of their attempts, averaging 11.1 makes per game. The Hawks' leading scorer, Borowicz is deadly at the line, hitting .925 percent of her free throw attempts.

Next Up
The Big Sky / Summit League Challenge continues as the Bengals head east to take on the South Dakota Coyotes in Vermillion, South Dakota. Tip off is set for Saturday, January 6 at 12:00 PM MT.