This Day in ISU Women's Basketball...

[Skippy]

January 6, 2007 – Sometimes it’s easy to overlook greatness. Natalie Doma had so many terrific games sometimes they got lost but that doesn’t mean they weren’t noteworthy. In an 85-74 win over Utah Valley in Orum, Doma had 35 points AND 19 rebounds. She shot 13 of 24, 7 of 10 from the line and also tossed in a pair of three balls.

PBP

Best player in Big Sky history.

 

[votb]

It was one of the great pleasures of my life to be able to call all her games! WOW!

 

[PBP]

January 7, 2012 – Only once before had ISU ever beaten Montana at Dahlberg Arena but on this day that would change. The Bengals played a solid game and won 58-51 sweeping the always tough Montana road trip for only the second time in history. There were two notable events in the game. The first came when Chelsea Pickering scored her 1,000th career point. She’d finish her career at ISU with 12 hundred of them. The second came with just over a minute remaining. With the shot clock running out Kaela Oakes hit a tough contested jumper in the lane to give the Bengals a three point lead. They closed it out by hitting four free throws. Pickering had 12 points and Oakes added 18 in the huge win.

PBP

 

[Moose31]

January 7, 2012 – Only once before had ISU ever beaten Montana at Dahlberg Arena but on this day that would change. The Bengals played a solid game and won 58-51 sweeping the always tough Montana road trip for only the second time in history. There were two notable events in the game. The first came when Chelsea Pickering scored her 1,000th career point. She’d finish her career at ISU with 12 hundred of them. The second came with just over a minute remaining. With the shot clock running out Kaela Oakes hit a tough contested jumper in the lane to give the Bengals a three point lead. They closed it out by hitting four free throws. Pickering had 12 points and Oakes added 18 in the huge win.

PBP

That was the game when I realized we just might have a special season happening before our eyes. Wish I could have seen it in person.

 

[PBP]

January 10, 2013 – Now this is the way to celebrate a birthday! ISU’s Abyee Maracigan dropped in 21 points, her career high in an 80-71 win over So. Utah at Reed Gym. It was Abyee’s 21st birthday. She also had nine rebounds that night along with two assists and a steal.

PBP

 

[PBP]

January 11, 2002 – The Bengals beat Sacramento State at the Hornet’s Nest 75-63. It would be the last win for head coach Shirley Huyett in her short time in Pocatello. Huyett only lasted 20 games replacing Ardie McInelly before she was let go. ISU was coming off a 25-5 record the previous season but were in disarray almost from the start of the year. A player revolt finally was the final straw. Huyett had lost six straight when she was let go. Assistant coach Lynn Kennedy took over for the final seven games going 2-5.

PBP

 

[PBP]

January 12, 1996 – It was yet another terrific performance by Idaho State’s Stacy Nelson although the Bengals weren’t able to get the win. Nelson had a 28 point effort in ISU’s loss at Idaho. The final score was 71-58.

PBP

 

[PBP]

January 13, 1978– ISU posted their best field goal percentage defense for an entire game when they held Eastern Utah to 11 of 67 shooting, 16.4 per cent in a 103-27 blowout win in Pocatello. That was the start of a nine game winning streak for the Bengals. The 76 point difference is the largest margin of victory in program history. Members of that team included Jane Hoffman, Claudia Mead and Sarah Ranes.

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[PBP]

January 14, 1983 – Behind 22 points from Nancy Espeseth the Bengals beat Montana State 83-71 at home. It marked the first win for ISU in the new Mountain West Athletic Conference which the Bengals were in before the Big Sky was formed. Espeseth would finish her ISU career scoring 1,050 points.

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[PBP]

January 15, 2011 – Chelsea Pickering had one of the best shooting nights in her career and in doing so had one of the best long range games in program history. ISU blew out Sacramento State at the Hornet’s Nest 76-51 and it was Pickering who set the tone early. She drilled four three point shots in the first five and a half minutes of the game to get things rolling the Bengals way. She finished the night with 22 points and was 7 of 8 from outside the arc.

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[PBP]

January 16, 1997 – She was one of the best shot blockers in program history but that didn’t mean she couldn’t score. Mandi Ortega had a huge home game on this night as she poured in 27 points. The Bengals would beat No. Arizona 74-62. For the 1996-97 season Ortega would average over three blocks a game.

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[PBP]

January 17, 2015 – Idaho State trailed literally almost the entire game against No. Arizona at Reed Gym but saved their best for last in pulling out a 69-68 win. The Bengals wound up leading the game for only :28 seconds of it but won when Grace (the Grand) Kenyon hit a short shot with three seconds remaining. NAU then hit what appeared to be a game winning jump shot at the buzzer but video review confirmed the shot was released a fraction after the final buzzer went off. Kenyon had 13 points, seven rebounds and four assists in the game.

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[PBP]

January 18, 2007 – ISU battled the always potent Montana Grizzlies almost to a standstill at Reed Gym before losing 90-87. Andrea Lightfoot scored 27 points and was one of three Bengals with at least 20 points in the game. The others were Jeni Boesel with 23 and Natalie Doma with 20.

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[PBP]

January 19, 2008 – She didn’t take a large volume of shots but every shot she did take she made on this date. ISU’s Jenna Brown went 3 for 3 from the field, 2 for 2 from three point range and 6 for 6 from the free throw line. She scored 14 points in the Bengals 85-80 win over Montana State. Natalie Doma had a big game with 33 points.

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[PBP]

January 20, 1978 – In a game at So. Utah, the Bengals Charly Bond poured in 32 points in an 81-71 win over the Thunderbird. Bond would finish her career with 1,259 points. The 32 point game remains one of the highest scoring games in program history.

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[PBP]

January 23, 2016 – A 58-57 win on the road at Weber State marked the third time in school history ISU would play back to back games decided by one point. The week before at Reed Gym, the Bengals held off Portland State 71-70. They didn’t play any games in the interim before beating the Wildcats.

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[PBP]

January 24, 2013 – At Reed Gym the Bengals Kaela Oakes recorded the 1,000th point in her career. It came in the second half of a tough loss 57-52 to Montana. Oakes scored 20 points that night to lead ISU. Her career would end with her scoring 1,171 of them 10th most in school history.

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[PBP]

January 25, 2014 – It was an unusual location. Because of a track meet ISU’s game against Montana State was played in Shroyer Gym, the volleyball location for the Bobcats. The lines for out of bounds, the lane and the three point line were placed on the floor with tape. It turned out the Bengals didn’t care much where the game was played as they took care of the Bobcats 74-63. Becca Schrimpsher scored 18 points and hit four three point shots. Lindsey Reed added 17 and Jess Tingey 12.

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[PBP]

January 26, 2008 – Natalie Doma, the greatest women’s basketball player in Big Sky Conference history tied the school record when she recorded 15 field goals against Sacramento State at the Hornet’s Nest. Doma scored 34 points on 15 of 22 shooting. She had a three point shot and three free throws. Her teammate, Andrea Lightfoot added 27 points as the Bengals won 90-73.

PBP

 

[mvem]

January 26, 2008 – Natalie Doma, the greatest women’s basketball player in Big Sky Conference history

She was one of the very top players for sure, but… no. Her defense was just too weak to make her #1 over Shannon Cate or Brenda Souther (if we're including the MWAC years) or possibly even Hollie Tyler.