kang@journalnet.com

The Reed Gym scoreboard read Idaho State 63, Northern Colorado 58 at the end of Saturday's game, which meant Idaho State must have done plenty right, Jenna Brown reasoned.

Bengals coach Seton Sobolewski was less forgiving about how his team limped through the final eight minutes of the victory.

"There's no denying it - we had a meltdown there," Sobolewski said. "We definitely had a meltdown. We lost our composure."

Sobolewski and Brown made equally valid points about a game that brought out the best and worst in their team.

Idaho State appreared to be cruising toward an easy win thanks to spectacular play from its posts. But facing an unfamiliar full-court press, the Bengals then suffered a rash of turnovers in their own backcourt to leave the Bears just one shot away from stealing a win with time winding down.

But that didn't happen, and the Bengals' happy ending gave them a season sweep over the Bears and, remarkably, sole possession of third place in the Big Sky.

"We had enough of a cushion to stay composed to the very end to pull out the win," Brown said. "That was big."

Much thanks to senior Michelle Grohs, who scored a career-high 27 points, Idaho State (7-15, 4-5 Big Sky) held a 46-30 lead with 10:46 left to play. All it needed to do, it seemed, was milk the clock.

Northern Colorado (10-13, 4-6) must have realized that too, because it soon sprung a full-court press that Idaho State hadn't prepared for. Brown committed two quick turnovers and exited the game with 7:06 remaining, saddled with four fouls.

Losing the senior point guard didn't help matters. The Bengals committed four more turnovers in the next two-plus minutes, and by the time Brown returned, their lead was down to 51-42.

"We were definitely like, 'Hey, you know it would be nice if Jenna was in,'" Grohs said.

Brown's entrance helped - a little. The Bengals were no longer turning the ball over, but by this time, the Bears had discovered their rhythm on offense and trimmed the deficit down to 51-49 with a 7-0 run. Despite Idaho State sinking 10 free throws in the final minute of the game, Northern Colorado stayed in it with three straight treys.

It wasn't until Brown drew a foul with 1.6 seconds left with the Bengals up 61-58 that they finally could smile and slap hands to celebrate their win.

That harrowing finish overshadowed what Grohs and junior Oana Iacovita had done to give Idaho State its commanding lead.

With posts Courtney Kranz and Jamie Schroeder out with injuries, Northern Colorado simply had no answer for Idaho State's duo. Iacovita repeatedly caught the ball deep in the paint and burned Lara Merritt with a variety of finishes. She finished with 14 points.

Grohs, meanwhile, sped by a hobbled Kate Kevorken at will on the perimeter to create jumpers and layups. She shot 10-for-18 and hit three 3-pointers.

"Michelle was very confident today," Sobolewski said. "She hit some shots early, and it snowballed from there. I think she did a tremendous job. She took some at times unorthodox shots, some tough contested shots, but she made them."

The pair also combined for 19 rebounds, which, along with career-best rebounding efforts from Sheila Adams (seven) and Devin Diehl (nine), gave Idaho State a 41-32 advantage on the glass.

The Bears' lack of second-chance points gave them no chance to overcome their 31.7 percent shooting performance.

"I need to redeem myself after several games where I didn't get the boards that often," Iacovita said. "That's what I'm doing, or trying to, at least."

All that gave Idaho State just enough of a lead to render their meltdown irrelevant.

For that reason, the Bengals were all smiles at the conclusion of their schizophrenic day.

"We have to learn to adjust quicker," Brown said. "That's something we can take from the game. But the stuff that we did prepare for, I thought we did really good."