FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. — For a team with really not a lot to play for, the Idaho State women’s basketball team put up a good fight against one of the best mid-major clubs in the country before losing to Northern Arizona 83-71 Monday night.

It was the Bengals third game in five days and they finished the regular season at 13-16, 8-10 in the Big Sky and 4-10 in true road games. NAU meanwhile had their third straight outstanding season under head coach Loree Payne winding up as the No. 2 seed in next week’s post season tournament in Boise by going 16-2 in league play, 25-6 overall and 12-1 at the Walkup Skydome.

ISU recorded their third straight losing season overall and their third straight losing season in the Big Sky Conference. That hadn’t happened since the 1993-94, 1994-95 and 1995-96 years, but a season that for a while looked like it was going completely off the rails stabilized in the last month.

Even with the loss Monday, Idaho State wound up winning five of their last seven and seven of their last 12 games and pose a threat in the tournament against whomever they play.

ISU, the No. 5 seed in the tournament, is locked in to a Monday game in Boise at noon against Weber State, the No. 4 seed. They dropped both games to the Wildcats, a traditional rival, in overtime this year.

As for Monday night, NAU is a terrific team with depth but the thing they have that separates them from other schools including ISU is superstar talent.

That’s the only way to describe Boise-area native Sophie Glancy and Taylor Feldman.

Glancy was the pre-season pick for league MVP but in many respects Feldman may be the better player. The junior point guard is averaging 16 points per game and her assist to turnover ratio, 115-66, is off the charts. She is the straw that stirs the drink for the Lumberjacks.

Both again had monster games against the Bengals.

The two combined for 46 points, 23 each, with seven rebounds, eight assists, four steals and two blocks. As part of the 46 point barrage the two also nailed four three-point shots.

Both have now faced ISU six times in their careers. Glancy is averaging 11.6 points with Feldman checking in at 13.3 points in those games.

They are simply hard to contain.

NAU has also embraced the three-point shot, now having fired up 861 of them this year. They attempted 37 more in the Monday night game with ISU, hitting 12. Seven different players scored from beyond the arc.

In the past three games versus the Bengals, the Lumberjacks have attempted 103 three-point shots, hitting 38 of them, good for 37%.

All that said, the Bengals played them well having a 38-37 lead at the break before fatigue and NAU scoring 46 points in the second half did them in.

Overall the Bengals had another fine shooting game which we’ve seen a lot of the last three weeks. The team hit 41% from the floor, 64% from three (9-14) and 10-12 from the free throw line. The ability to shoot well the last several weeks increases their chances of making some noise in Boise as they hope to avoid a fourth straight first round exit.

Sophia Covello led ISU with 19 points hitting five three-balls, Piper Carlson continued to show that being an undersized post player isn’t always a bad thing as she scored 17 on 8-11 shooting. Alyse Aby is another player who has come on in the last month as she added 11 points.

Tasia Jordan though, who had recorded six straight double-figure scoring games and averaged 18 points in the run, had that streak snapped as she only scored eight points on 2-11 shooting. Kasey Spink who also has been steadily scoring in the winning streak was held to seven going 3-10 although she did have 10 rebounds and three steals bringing her career total to 183.

ISU returns home Tuesday to start to prepare for the second season, the postseason. They will probably leave for Boise either Saturday or Sunday and play Monday afternoon. If they win they would play Tuesday, again in the afternoon, at the Idaho Central Arena likely against top seeded Montana State.

KISU-FM coverage of the ISU-Weber State game will begin at 11:30 a.m. Monday.