Idaho State University’s women’s basketball team improved its season record to 9-4 and moved to 2-0 in Big Sky Conference play after a 72–63 victory over Portland State at Viking Pavilion in Portland, Oregon. The game took place on Saturday afternoon.
“I thought we did a really good job,” said head coach Seton Sobolewski. “They gave us a great run, we had to fight back, and I’m just proud of our efforts.”
The Bengals started strong, scoring early and establishing a defensive presence that led to a 17–10 lead after the first quarter. Portland State responded in the second quarter by taking advantage of offensive rebounds and briefly held a six-point lead with just over four minutes left before halftime.
Sobolewski highlighted rebounding as an early challenge: “Portland State came out and did a great job, really hurting us on the offensive glass early,” he said. “Once our offensive rebounding picked up, our offense in general got better.”
Idaho State finished the first half with a 10–2 run, regaining the lead at 33–30 by halftime. The momentum continued into the third quarter as Idaho State opened with another run and eventually built their largest lead of ten points midway through the period.
Portland State narrowed the gap several times but could not regain control. Sobolewski noted his decision to rotate younger players during the second half: “We have a group of young players on the bench that need some playing experience,” he said. “I’ve got to get them in the game to get a little battle tested so that they’re better for the future.”
The Bengals closed out the win at the free-throw line, converting 16-of-18 attempts for an 88.9% success rate—their best mark this season.
With this result, Idaho State has now won four consecutive games and six of its last seven since December 13. The team has also scored its third-highest point total this season and achieved double-digit assists in three of its last four games while holding recent opponents under 63 points.
Tasia Jordan continues as Idaho State’s leading scorer with an average of 16.1 points per game; she recorded her sixth game with at least 20 points against Portland State. Piper Carlson is averaging nearly eleven points per game along with over eight rebounds, making her one of Big Sky’s most efficient inside scorers.
Maeva Gauffrenet leads from beyond the arc for Idaho State this season with more than forty-two percent accuracy from three-point range. Kacey Spink tops both assists (4.2 per game) and is close to breaking ISU’s all-time steals record while maintaining strong rebounding numbers.
Aspen Caldwell has appeared in every game so far this year and is shooting forty percent from long distance; Asa Wolfram is hitting nearly seventy-four percent from free throws as part of an overall team mark above seventy percent.
Idaho State will return home next week after more than a month away, hosting Northern Colorado on Thursday, January 8 at Reed Gym followed by Northern Arizona on Saturday, January 10. Both games will be available via ESPN+ streaming service and broadcast locally on KISU radio.
