The Idaho State women’s basketball team fell 75-52 Thursday at Northern Colorado.

Idaho State (14-8, 6-5 Big Sky Conference) was led in scoring by sophomore forward Sai Tapasa with 14 points, while junior guard Saylair Grandon and sophomore guard Estefania Ors each added 11 points each. Sophomore guard Dora Goles led the rebounding effort with seven.

ISU opened the afternoon with eight consecutive points from Tapasa to take an 8-6 lead with 6:43 remaining in the first quarter. A 4-0 Bears run put UNC in front 10-8, but Idaho State closed the quarter on a 5-1 run to take a 13-11 lead heading into the second quarter.

For the first three minutes of the second quarter, neither team led by more than four points, and with 6:55 remaining in the half, Northern Colorado (17-6, 9-3 Big Sky) led by four at 20-16. However, Bears’ scores on three straight possessions put UNC up 28-16 in less than 90 seconds. A free throw from Grandon halted Northern Colorado’s unanswered scoring run, but a 10-3 Bears run over the next 2:15 put ISU in an 18-point hole, 38-20. By halftime, UNC had extended its lead to 47-25.

The Bengals chipped away at UNC’s lead in the beginning of the third quarter, cutting the Bears’ lead to 49-34 with just under five minutes to go. Yet Idaho State went ice cold from the field to close the quarter as UNC strung together an 11-0 run to close the period with a 60-34 lead.

Idaho State put together an 18-point fourth quarter shooting 46.2 percent from the floor and 40 percent from beyond the arc. Ors contributed half of ISU’s fourth-quarter points, finishing 3 of 5 from the floor for nine points with one assist in seven minutes. The Bengals held UNC to 15 fourth-quarter points, but Idaho State was unable to close the gap, falling 75-52.

Northern Colorado was led by Savannah Scott with a game-high 20 points, while Savannah Smith added 17 points and six assists. Alexis Chapman and Bridget Hintz also finished in double figures with 12 and 10 points, respectively.

Idaho State continues play on the road Saturday at North. The game is set to tip off at 1 p.m. MST from the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center in Grand Forks, North Dakota.

NOTES

- Sophomore forward Sai Tapasa has come on strong for the Bengals as of late. After averaging 7.3 points and 6.8 rebounds through her first six conference games, Tapasa has averaged 13.7 points and 4.7 rebounds in the last three games. Tapasa has also been shooting 62.5 percent from the floor and a perfect 11 of 11 from the charity stripe in the last three contests.

- The Bengals outrebounded Northern Colorado 34-2,9 which marks the third time this season that Idaho State has outrebounded its opponent but lost the game. The Bengals are now 13-3 in games in which they win the rebounding battle.

- UNC’s 29 rebounds marks the seventh time this season that ISU has held its opponent to under 30 rebounds. ISU’s opponent rebounding low was 21 from Portland State on Jan. 18.