When the five seniors and six juniors on Idaho State’s women’s team look back at their careers, it’s a win that could fade in memory.
Or is the 80-71 victory over the Thunderbirds from Cedar City Thursday night a harbinger of things to come, a so called turning point in a season that had temporarily careened off the rails?
Head coach Seton Sobolewski refused to call the matchup against Southern Utah a must win — fair enough considering we’ve yet to reach the mid-point of January — but it was unquestionably important.
Since arriving back in Pocatello off the loss at Northern Colorado, ISU had practiced as hard as any other time this season.
“It wasn’t easy for us to lose four games in a row,” said senior Abyee Maracigan, the leading scorer Thursday with 21. “So I think as a team, after the Northern Colorado loss, we dug deep.
“We had two or three hour practices this week. They were long and they were gritty. We got after each other. It was the best practices I think we’ve had in a while.”
The extra work parlayed into a 41-18 blitzing of the visiting Thunderbirds in the first 20 minutes.
The Bengals did nearly everything right, out rebounding the T-Birds 25-15, shooting 42 percent to SUU’s 31 and ending the half on a 33-10 run.
Now, granted, for Idaho State the opening 20 minutes was smooth and easy going as Alabama’s demolition of Notre Dame, and the second half was something of an up and down affair where the Thunderbirds ensured a much closer final score.
Give some credit to Southern Utah’s coaching staff and players. Nine players were on the floor for at least 14 minutes, and two T-Birds came off the bench to spur the comeback with 23 points.
But remember those long, grueling practices Maracigan talked about? The effort exerted for Thursday night’s game began to take a toll.
“We practiced really hard the last two days,” Sobolewski said. “Probably harder than we should have, especially (Wednesday), just trying to get us to play at a certain level again. And I think that showed in the second half.”
The arduous practice schedule is not an excuse, just a fact, and nothing about the final winning margin of nine should take away from the positive aspects of the victory.
Like how Ashleigh Vella avoided foul trouble and played a team-high 34 minutes. Her value on the court as a leader, shooter and ballhandler makes Vella one of the Big Sky’s toughest matchups.
Another major takeaway was the Bengals’ ability to knock down open looks. ISU’s final field goal percentage of 46 is the third highest of the season. Under Sobolewski, when Idaho State shoots better than 45 percent it’s 26-3.
And on a night when the Bengals improved to 2-3 in the Big Sky, the last undefeated, Northern Colorado, went down at Montana State and Eastern Washington lost for the second time. Suddenly, the road back to the top seems far less daunting.
But while the big picture and speculation is fun for fans and journalists, it’s utterly worthless for Sobolewski and the Bengals.
After a four-game losing streak, all energy was focused on Thursday night, beating the Thunderbirds and finding a way to replicate the kind of success the championship team a year ago found.
“We’re starting with a clean slate and getting back to our roots and our habits of being a defensive team,” said Kara Jenkins. “We’re trying to fix things and work our way back up.”
The next step up is Monday at 0-13 Weber State.
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