Weber State University Athletics
'Cats Face Must Win Saturday at ISU
3/5/2008 7:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Wildcats close out regular season at Idaho State
Weber State will play the final game of the 2007-08 regular season when the Wildcats head to Pocatello, Idaho to take on Idaho State Saturday at 2:00 p.m. The game is a must-win for Weber State to qualify for the Big Sky Conference Tournament next week. The Wildcats (12-15, 6-9) are coming off a 84-58 win over Sacramento State last Saturday. Idaho State is 19-8 overall and 11-4 in Big Sky play heading into Saturday's game.
Big Sky standings update
Following a 62-48 win at Eastern Washington Thursday night, the Montana Lady Griz have clinched the Big Sky regular season title and will host the conference tournament next week in Missoula. Montana is 13-2 in Big Sky play this season and has won six straight games. The conference tournament will be held next Thursday-Saturday in Missoula, Montana with the top six teams in the league standings advancing to the tournament. Weber State's opponent Saturday, Idaho State, is in second place in the league standings with an 11-4 record. With a win Saturday ISU will clinch second place in the league and receive a first-round tournament bye. With a loss they can still finish second, depending on tiebreakers. Portland State, who lost 74-70 at home to Montana State Thursday night, is now tied with the Bobcats for third at 10-5. Portland State will host Montana Saturday, while Montana State plays at Eastern Washington. If MSU and PSU both end up tied, Montana State will win the tiebreaker because of a sweep over Portland State. A win at Eastern Washington will clinch third place for Montana State. However, if there is a three-way tie at 11-5, the Bobcats would be the second seed and Idaho State would drop to the fourth seed.
With an 85-65 win over Northern Arizona at home Thursday night, Northern Colorado clinched a spot in the Big Sky Tournament for the first time ever.
Simple scenario for Wildcats: win and in, lose and out
Because of Northern Arizona's loss Thursday night at Northern Colorado the Wildcats know what they have to do in order to qualify for the Big Sky Tournament and it's pretty simple. A Weber State win will clinch a spot in the tournament, with a loss they will be out. Win a win and a Northern Colorado loss to Sacramento State, and the Wildcats will be the fifth seed. If WSU losses, it would lose the tiebreaker to Northern Arizona because of NAU's season sweep.
Caitlin Anderson posts career-high to lead ?Cats to win
WSU red-shirt freshman Caitlin Anderson posted a career-high 26 points to lead the Wildcats to the win over Sacramento State Saturday. The Reno, Nevada native was 8-20 from the field, including 4-8 from three-point land, and was also 6-7 from the free throw line. She finished with 26 points, with 21 of those points coming in the first half. She also grabbed nine rebounds and had two assists and two steals. Anderson is now averaging 6.9 points per game but in Big Sky games she is averaging 10.0 points per game, second best on the team. For the season she is second in the Big Sky in three-point field goal percentage at .456.
Ten more assists for Tonya Schnibbe
Sophomore Tonya Schnibbe had another strong assist game in Saturday's win. The sophomore from Spokane, Washington tied her career-high with ten assists for the third time in the last four games. This season Schnibbe is second in the Big Sky in assists at 5.63 per game. She has 152 assists on the season, which is already the second most in WSU single-season history. She needs 17 more to pass Karsen Muller (2002-03) for the most in a single-season.
Sara Tuomi misses first career game
WSU senior Sara Tuomi missed Saturday's game against Sacramento State after suffering an MCL injury in her right knee in Thursday's loss to Northern Arizona. It marked the first game Tuomi has missed of her career, after staring all 116 games before that. Her status for Saturday's game at Idaho State is day-to-day will be a game-time decision.
?Cats head to Pocatello for must-win game
Weber State will close out the regular season Saturday at Idaho State in a game it must win to qualify for the Big Sky Tournament. The game will being at 2:00 p.m. from Reed Gym in Pocatello and will be broadcast live on KWCR 88.1 FM with Eric Knighton calling the action. Audio and of the game is also available at weberstatesports.com and video is on bigskytv.org.
About Idaho State
Idaho State enters Saturday's game with a 19-8 overall record and an 11-4 Big Sky Conference record. ISU has won four of its last five games heading into this weekend. With a win Saturday over the Wildcats, the Bengals will clinch second place in the league standings and receive a first round bye. However, with a loss the Bengals could finish anywhere from second to fourth, depending on what happens in other games.
Idaho State is second in the Big Sky and 14th in the nation in scoring offense at 75.1 points per game. The Bengals also are also seventh in the country in three-pointers per game, making 7.52 a contest. ISU also ranks fifth in the nation in fouls per game and 11th in assist/turnover ratio.
The Bengals are led be senior Natalie Doma, who last week became the Big Sky Conference's all-time leading scorer. This season Doma is third in the nation in scoring at 24.6 and ranks third in the country in rebounding at 11.9 per game. Doma is also third in the Big Sky in field goal percentage at .481. After Doma, senior Andrea Lightfoot is fourth in the Big Sky in scoring at 16.5 points per game and is first in free throw percentage at 90.1 percent.
Head coach Jon Newlee
Idaho State is coached by Jon Newlee who is in his sixth season with the Bengals. He has a career record of 92-80 overall at ISU, including 53-34 in Big Sky Conference games. Last year Newlee led ISU to the Big Sky Tournament championship and is first ever trip to the NCAA Tournament.
All-time series
Weber State leads the all-time series 39-25 over Idaho State but the Bengals have won four straight and six of the last seven in the series. In games played in Pocatello, WSU leads 19-13 all-time. The last Wildcat win in Pocatello was in March 2006 in the semifinals of the Big Sky Tournament when the Wildcats beat ISU 71-70. ISU won 81-56 last March at Reed Gym.
Earlier this season in Ogden
Idaho State beat the Wildcats 64-50 February 1 in Ogden. Andrea Lightfoot led ISU with 26 points and 13 rebounds, while Natalie Doma added 21 points and 12 rebounds. WSU shot just 33 percent from the field and was only 3-3 from the free throw line. Sara Tuomi led the ?Cats with 24 points.
Looking ahead
If the Wildcats win Saturday they will head to the Big Sky Tournament next weekend in Missoula, Montana. The Tournament will be held Thursday-Saturday, March 13-15 with the top six teams in the regular season advance to the tournament, where the tournament champion qualifies for the NCAA Tournament. Weber State has competed in 12 straight Big Sky Tournaments.
