Road victories are like gold in college basketball, especially when you’re a young, inexperienced team that is trying to build a foundation in conference play. So when Idaho State’s women’s basketball team got not one, but two road wins to start Big Sky Conference play this past week, it was definitely money in the bank.

“It’s a big deal to get two road wins in the Big Sky, especially against two really good teams,” said Bengal Coach Seton Sobolewski.

The Bengals completed their road sweep Saturday afternoon, shutting down Northern Colorado 63-42, behind the play of sophomore center Laura Bello, who had 19 points, 9 rebounds and three blocked shots. The Bengals held the Bears to just 29 percent shooting from the field (15-52), and 4 of 26 from three-point range.

UNC guard Hannah Simental, who came into the game averaging 16.6 points a game on 44 percent shooting, was held to 10 points on three of 11 shooting. Nobody else scored in double figures for UNC.

Bello, meanwhile, responded well from a difficult game against NAU on Thursday when she had just 3 points and 7 rebounds before fouling out in 17 minutes.

“Laura did a great job of being a scoring threat around the basket against Northern Colorado,” Sobolewski said. “But another area where she really helped us was on the defensive end with three blocks.”

Joining Bello in double figures for ISU on Saturday were Finley Garnett, who had 14 points coming off a career night against Northern Arizona on Thursday, and Callie Bourne, who had 12 points, eight rebounds and four assists.

Sobolewski changed up his starting lineup Saturday, inserting freshman point guard Bridee Burks in place of fellow frosh Kacey Spink. Burks was scoreless, but Spink didn’t let the move to the bench bother her — she had 6 points, 6 assists and four steals to lead the Bengal second unit.

On Thursday night, ISU was carried by its two “old reliables” — seniors Bourne and Garnett — in taking down a Northern Arizona team that had been leading the conference in scoring at 78 points a contest. The Bengals roared out to a 19-point second quarter lead, before having to hang on for a 69-64 victory.

“Callie and Finley are doing a great job of pacing our team with their energy and leadership,” Sobolewski said.

Garnett posted a career-high 27 points on 10 of 20 shooting from the field, including four three-pointers. Bourne added 16 points, 7 rebounds and 2 assists. Spink struggled shooting, going 0 for 4 from the field, but led ISU with 8 rebounds and added 6 assists, four blocked shots and two steals before fouling out.

“NAU is a talented, experienced team and we are super proud of our young team’s efforts,” Sobolewski said. “Finley and Callie came ready to play.... They did a fantastic job picking us up early.”

Regan Schenck led the Lumberjacks with 15 points, but she was just 5 of 16 from the floor. Former Bengal Montana Oltrogge had a double-double against her old team, with 13 points and 11 rebounds. ISU held the Lumberjacks to 35 percent shooting overall, and just 3 of 24 from three-point range.

The Bengals, who came into the weekend leading the conference in scoring defense, held NAU to 14 points below its season average, and Northern Colorado to 28 less than theirs. The Bengals also significantly improved their ballhandling this weekend. ISU came in averaging over 20 turnovers a contest, but committed 16 vs. NAU, and just 8, a season-low, against the Bears.

Idaho State started the season with 9 newcomers, and the Bengals were picked to finish eighth in the league by the coaches and sixth by the media in the conference pre-season polls. By contrast, NAU was picked to finish fourth by the coaches, third by the media. The Bengals have a long conference season ahead of them, continuing with a home game Saturday afternoon against Weber State.

But they are certainly off to a better start than most fans — or even coaches, or media members — would have expected. ISU is now 7-6 overall, 2-0 in the conference, which ties them with Idaho, who swept the two Montana schools at home this weekend, for the league lead.