Idaho State Storms Past Idaho 84-49 to Claim Big Sky Title
GAME BOOK (PDF) | PHOTO GALLERY
BOISE, Idaho (March 12, 2021) – The No.1 seeded Idaho State Bengals met their in-state rival, the No. 2 seeded Idaho Vandals, in the Big Sky Women's Basketball Championship title game. The Bengals controlled the game from the beginning to claim their fourth Big Sky Tournament title in program history.
The Bengals and the Vandals met for the third time this year after a regular season series split last month.
"We came out on fire and played exceptional defense on top of some very strong offense, and we were just excited to see it all come together," said Idaho State head coach Seton Sobolewski.
The Vandals secured the opening tip-off, and freshman Sydney Gandy drained a three-pointer to give the Vandals an early 3-0 lead. Idaho State responded on their first possession and tied the game at 3-3 with a step-back three-pointer from tournament MVP Estefania Ors.
Beyonce Bea gave the Vandals the lead again, with 9:14 remaining in the opening period with a step-back 15-foot jumper to put Idaho on top 5-3.
From that point on, it was all Bengals the rest of the way. Ors hit a driving layup to tie the game at 5-5, and then on the next possession, Ors found pay dirt again with another three-pointer to go ahead 8-5 at the 8:35 minute mark. Ors scored 13 of the Bengals' first 15 points.
ISU used two six point runs in the opening period to take a double-digit 27-14 lead.
After a Vandals basket to start the second period, Idaho State went on an eight-point run to jump out to a 16 point lead with 6:54 remaining in half. By the time the halftime buzzer sounded, Idaho had built their lead to 19 points, 44-25.
Ors led the Bengals with 17 points and was 6-of-7 from the field and a perfect 4-of-4 from three-point range. She also had three rebounds, an assist, and a steal.
Idaho's leading scorer at the break was Sydney Gandy, who had a high of eight points.
The Bengals opened the second half of play on a 10-2 run and didn't look back. ISU led by as many as 40 points late in the fourth period, but two buckets in the final two minutes by Idaho cut the lead to 35 points.
Ors led the Bengals with 21 points on 8-of-9 shooting from the field. She had four rebounds, four assists, and three steals in today's game.
Diaba Konate scored 20 points for Idaho State while grabbing four boards, dishing out two assists, and recording two steals.
Bea finished as the leading scorer for the Vandals with 14 points. She also added seven rebounds in the game.
Idaho State's Ors, Callie Bourne, and Montana Oltrogge received all-tournament honors, with Ors being named the tournament MVP.
Idaho's Sydney Gandy and Gabi Harrington also received all-tournament honors.
Northern Colorado's Alisha Davis was named to the final spot on the all-tournament team.
With today's victory, Idaho State will receive the Big Sky's automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament. The selection show will take place on Monday, March 15 at 5:00 p.m. MT.
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2021 Big Sky All-Tournament Team
Estefania Ors, Idaho State (MVP)
Callie Bourne, Idaho State
Montana Oltrogge, Idaho State
Sydney Gandy, Idaho
Gabi Harrington, Idaho
Alisha Davis, Northern Colorado