Weber State University Athletics
Weber State University
Idaho State
'Cats Fall to Bengals 57-49
1/16/2010 4:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
OGDEN, Utah -- The Weber State women's basketball team fell to 7-11 overall and 1-4 in the Big Sky Conference on Friday night as Idaho State came to the Dee Events Center and pulled out a 57-49 win.
"The difference tonight was that Idaho State came in here, wanted to win and played like it," said WSU head coach Carla Taylor. "We didn't. We did have a bright spot with our offensive rebounding, but overall we demonstrated a lack of toughness."
The Bengals scored the first basket of the game and took the lead for good with 18:35 left in the opening half at 3-2. The Bengals led by as many as nine points with 12:07 left in the second half before Sarah Conner and Joey O'Neill combined to score seven straight points to cut the lead to a pair at 40-38. But ISU would quickly push the lead back to seven.
The Bengals held on down the stretch, helped largely by Andrea Videbeck, who made eight-consecutive free throws down the stretch to ice the lead. Videbeck made 10 of 10 overall from the line and has made 19-straight overall. The senior point guard led all players with 19 points and nine assists.
Joey O'Neill came up big for the Wildcats, recording team-high's with 12 points and 10 rebounds for her second-career double-double. O'Neill hit 5 of 7 shots from the floor and pulled down half of her rebounds on the offensive end, leading WSU to a season-high 20 offensive rebounds, which led to 14 second chance points.
Mikell Woodfield also was strong for the Wildcats, scoring nine points on 4 of 6 shooting, and pulling down a career-high eight rebounds. Woodfield also had five offensive boards to match O'Neill.
Ali Thorderson scored the first nine points of the game for Weber State, going 4 for 6 from the field over the first seven minutes and 11 seconds, but was scoreless for the remainder of the game on only three shot attempts after that point.
Tonya Schnibbe added eight points and four assists, while Sarah Conner chipped in with seven points and four rebounds. Caitlin Anderson was a non-factor for the Wildcats after getting into early foul trouble. Anderson was scoreless on three shots and had four rebounds in 17 minutes of playing time.
Oana Iacovita added 17 points, nine rebounds, five steals and three blocked shots for ISU, who improved to 9-9 overall and 4-1 in the Big Sky with the win. Ashley Vella grabbed 10 rebounds to match O'Neill for game-high honors.
The Wildcats will next head out on a three-game road trip over the next two weeks, facing Portland State, Eastern Washington and Sacramento State in Big Sky action.
