MISSOULA, Mont. - It's still very much winter in Montana, and Idaho State's shooting from beyond the arc matched the frigid air outside during a 70-48 loss Thursday against the Grizzlies at Dahlberg Arena in Missoula.

The Bengals shot just 17 percent from 3-point land in the lopsided defeat.

"That percentage could have been avoided if we took better shots," said Idaho State senior Michelle Grohs.

It was the second straight conference loss for Idaho State (5-12, 2-2 Big Sky).

The Bengals never led the defending Big Sky champion Montana (15-3, 4-0 Big Sky). A 4-4 tie, thanks to a jumper by junior Oana Iacovita at the 18:06 mark, was the closest they came.

"Montana made us take tough shots," said first-year Bengals coach Seton Sobolewski. "We got a little discouraged with all the offensive rebounds we were giving up. You tend to get a feeling of hopelessness. Like it doesn't matter what we do, they're just going to overpower us on the other end and get an offensive rebound."

For the game, Montana snagged 18 offensive rebounds while outrebounding the Bengals 44-31.

"That was the big difference," said Montana head coach Robin Selvig of the offensive boards. "That just got us going."

Idaho State kept within striking distance from the get-go, down only four at the 11-minute mark. But the Lady Griz were just too much to handle, outscoring the Bengals 22-6 for the remainder of the first half.

Sarah Ena sparked Montana in the first half. Along with eight rebounds, the sophomore netted 12 of her 14 points before halftime.

The Lady Griz dominated the glass early, winning the first-half rebounding battle 27-13, more than doubling the Bengals.

"We came out strong and then just fell apart … and let little mistakes get to us, and that carried over offensively," Grohs said.

Idaho State held Montana's leading scorer, senior guard Mandy Morales, to just 10 points. She entered Thursday's game averaging 19.3 points in Montana's last three games. But others helped pick up the slack. Sonya Rogers also reached double digits with 11 points, seven in the first half.

Sobolewski said early in the season his team shot a lot of 3s, but in wins over Eastern Washington and Northern Colorado, the team didn't shoot as often from behind the arc. However, Montana's defense forced the Bengals to take bad shots.

"We were able to get better shots," Sobolewski said of their previous games. "We had more patience. We worked the ball a little bit better."

Montana's defense also stifled sophomore guard Chelsea Pickering, who netted a career-high 31 points against Portland State last week, but she was only able to come up with eight points. The sophomore was 2-for-14 from the field and 1-of-8 from behind the 3-point line.

"We let things build and just landslide," said Idaho State junior Devin Diehl. "We just need to be able to stop and take a deep breath and buckle down."

Grohs led the Bengals, tallying 14 points and seven rebounds. Diehl chipped in nine points, while junior Oana Iacovita had seven.

Despite his team's decisive victory, Selvig said his team won't overlook the Bengals in the teams' return match Feb. 21 at Reed Gym.

"They are way better than they look," Selvig said. "We have to be ready for a different kind of team when we go there."

Idaho State's road trip continues Saturday as the Bengals travel to Montana State to face the Bobcats, who beat Weber State 65-62 on Thursday. Idaho State returns home Jan. 22 to face Northern Arizona.