OGDEN, Utah — The Big Sky Conference announced today that ISU Head Coach Allison Gibson has been named the 2012 Big Sky Coach of the Year. This season, Gibson led Idaho State to a 6-2-1 record in Big Sky play, helping the Bengals clinch a share of the regular-season title.

     Gibson’s squad earned the right to host the Big Sky Conference Tournament for the first time since 2006. Gibson and the Bengals won the tournament crown after defeating Weber State in penalty kicks in the semifinal and doing the same to Montana in the final, earning the program’s fifth tournament title.

     This is Gibson’s third Big Sky Coach of the Year award. She was also named Big Sky Coach of the Year in her first year at ISU when she led the 2006 team to the NCAA Tournament. She was honored again in 2009.

     Gibson has compiled a 52-61-17 record in her seven-year, head-coaching career.  In that time she has led Idaho State to a pair of Big Sky Conference Championships (2006 and 2012) and a pair of Division I NCAA Tournament berths (2006 and 2012).

     “First and foremost, I am honored and extremely appreciative of the recognition from my colleagues in the Big Sky,” Gibson said. “I would like to share this honor with my two assistant coaches, Stephanie Beall and Caleb Hussman.

    “This team (and) staff has just been tremendous this year. And of course I want to thank my team because without this team’s performance, these types of awards just don’t come around.

    “For those reasons, I share this award with all of them from coaching staff all the way down to the individuals that make up this year’s squad.”

     During her tenure at ISU, Gibson has coached 26 individual athletes to Big Sky All-Conference teams and 13 athletes to Big Sky All-Tournament teams.

    Two Bengals have been named Big Sky Tournament MVP under her tutelage, Lyndsay Gensler in 2006 and Sheridan Hapsic in 2012. She has coached two Big Sky Newcomers of the Year, Ashley Jones (2009) and Amanda Ellsworth (2011). This season, Ellsworth was named Big Sky Offensive MVP.

     Gibson and the Bengals have drawn the top-seeded Stanford Cardinal in the first round of the NCAA College Cup. ISU faces the Cardinal Friday, Nov. 9 at 6 p.m. MST in Palo Alto, Calif.