Weber State University Athletics
Weber State University
Idaho State
WSU's Season Ends With Loss at Idaho State
3/8/2008 7:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
The Weber State women's basketball team's season came to an end after an 81-69 loss Saturday at Idaho State that eliminated the Wildcats from qualifying for the Big Sky Tournament. It marks the first time in 13 years that WSU will not be competing in the tournament.
The Wildcats jumped out to an 8-2 lead early in the game but from that point Idaho State went on a 27-6 run over the next 11 minutes of the first half and took a 29-14 lead with 5:48 to play. But Weber State came back and closed the half on a 17-10 run to cut the ISU lead to eight points at halftime. In the second half the Wildcats never got closer than eight points, with Idaho State leading by 19 at one point. The Bengals won their fifth straight game over the Wildcats
“We battled really hard today and did some good things we just didn't shoot well and that made a difference,” said WSU head coach Carla Taylor. “We can't let a team like Idaho State get a lead because it is so hard to recover.”
For the game Weber State shot just 38 percent from the field, while allowing the Bengals to shoot 49 percent, the best percentage by a conference opponent this season. ISU shot 50 percent in the second half. They were also 22-24 from the free throw line, while the ?Cats shot just 8-13 from the line.
The Wildcats had a season-low seven turnovers, compared to 17 by the Bengals. WSU also out rebounded Idaho State 43-38, including 22 offensive rebounds for Weber State.
The ?Cats were led by sophomore Tonya Schnibbe who tied her career-high with 17 points and also had four assists in the game. Schnibbe finished the year with 154 assists, the second most in Weber State single-season history.
Senior Sara Tuomi returned after missing last week's game because of an MCL injury. Tuomi came off the bench for the first time in her career and scored 13 points in 33 minutes of action.
Natalie Doma, the Big Sky's all-time leading scorer, finished with 32 points and also grabbed 15 rebounds to lead Idaho State. She entered the game third in the nation in both categories. Andrea Lightfoot added 17 for the Bengals.
The loss ends Weber State's season at 12-16 overall and 6-10 in Big Sky action, their worst conference record since 1995. WSU ends the season tied with Northern Arizona for sixth place in the league standings, but the ?Cats lose the tiebreaker because of NAU's season sweep. It also marks the first time Weber State failed to qualify for the Big Sky Tournament since the 1995 season, ending a streak of 12 straight conference tournament appearances.
The loss also ends the careers for three Wildcats seniors, Tuomi, Tashina Taylor, and Ahkiah Hunter, who combined to play 281 career games at Weber State. Tuomi ends her career as WSU's ninth all-time leading scorer and the tenth leading rebounder. She also ranks fifth in career free throws made.
“It's unfortunate that the season ended like this by not making the tournament,” Taylor said. “We dug ourselves into a hole into the first half of the conference season and played a lot better in the second half but it was too little too late. We lost three great seniors off this year's team and we will miss them but we have a good group coming back and we feel good about what we have returning.”
The Big Sky tournament will be held next Thursday-Saturday in Missoula, Montana. Idaho State will enter the tournament as the second seed and receive a first round bye. Montana will be the first seed after finishing with a 13-3 conference record.
