kang@journalnet.com

A post-game meeting with the Idaho State women's basketball team confirmed coach Seton Sobolewski's suspicions: The Bengals didn't try their hardest in a deflating 75-61 loss to Southern Utah on Tuesday in Cedar City, Utah.

Sobolewski's still trying to figure out why.

"It's funny how much you can accomplish by playing hard and how many good things happen," Sobolewski said by cell phone from Cedar City. "For some reason or another, they weren't ready to give it their best effort."

Southern Utah blitzed Idaho State with an early run, and it never recovered. The Bengals missed a flurry of open shots at the beginning, a trend that continued throughout the game and saddled them with a 26.4 field-goal percentage at the end.

They didn't fare much better on defense. A previously winless Southern Utah team consistently out-hustled Idaho State on fast breaks and offensive rebounds, which Sobolewski estimated led to at least 30 or 40 percent of its scoring.

With the exception of junior Devin Diehl's 17-point performance, the Bengals did little right.

"We couldn't get anything to go down," Sobolewski said. "I think being discouraged from that trickled over to other things. It trickled over to our defensive effort. It was a domino effect from there."

Idaho State (2-3) scored the first two baskets, but Southern Utah (1-3) then erupted with a 26-5 run to take control of the game. A mini-run in the second half helped the Bengals trim the deficit to 10 with a little more than 10 minutes remaining, but that was the closest they would get.

Southern Utah, which shot 54.8 percent in the first half, often scored at will because Idaho State failed to shut down its long outlet passes and transition game. The Thunderbirds also prolonged possessions by grabbing 21 offensive rebounds, which led to 16 second-chance points.

Idaho State's overall performance so distressed Sobolewski he suggested imminent lineup changes, pending his review of game film.

"There's nothing definite yet," Sobolewski said. "We're not going to let this type of thing continue. Some type of change has to be made."

One possible change might be at the shooting guard position. Sophomore Chelsea Pickering shot 2-for-16 and was replaced by freshman Sheila Adams to begin the second half. Senior Michelle Grohs also went 2-for-16.

Things were so bad that one of the few players Sobolewski singled out for praise was walk-on Kari Green, who made her debut and scored one point in five minutes.

"When you don't have a deep bench and the players you do have are off that night, you don't have anyone to really go to," Sobolewski said. "We were searching a little bit tonight."

Southern Utah 75, Idaho State 61

Idaho State (2-3)

Devin Diehl 5-9 2-2 17, Oana Iacovita 4-14 3-4 11, Jenna Brown 4-8 1-1 10, Chelsea Pickering 2-16 3-6 8, Sheila Adams 2-7 1-2 7, Michelle Grohs 2-16 0-0 5, Kari Green 0-1 1-2 1, Cara Lambert 0-1 1-2 1, Verity Peets 0-0 1-2 1. Totals 19-72 13-21 61.

Southern Utah (1-3)

Anne Westwood-Higbee 7-12 3-4 17, Caitlyn Sears 5-11 2-3 12, Cassi Jones 3-5 5-6 11, Cassie Platt 3-6 3-4 10, Lyndie NeVille 3-8 1-2 7, Challis Pascucci 3-12 1-2 7; Amanda Farish 2-5 3-5 7, Dani Hosking 2-4 0-0 4, Jamie Sagers 0-2 0-0 0, Kaila Goff 0-3 0-0 0, Kellie Snyder 0-0 0-0 0, Morgan Slade 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 28-68 18-26 75.

Halftime - Southern Utah 75-61. 3-point goals - Idaho State 10-33 (Devin Diehl 5-8, Sheila Adams 2-7, Chelsea Pickering 1-6, Michelle Grohs 1-6, Jenna Brown 1-4, Oana Iacovita 0-2), Southern Utah 1-10 (Cassie Platt 1-1, Caitlyn Sears 0-3, Lyndie NeVille 0-2, Dani Hosking 0-1, Jamie Sagers 0-1, Kaila Goff 0-2). Rebounds - Idaho State 43 (Michelle Grohs 10), Southern Utah 61 (Cassi Jones 11). Assists - Idaho State 11, (Sheila Adams 5), Southern Utah 17 (Cassie Platt, Amanda Farish 4). Fouled out - Verity Peets, Anne Westwood-Higbee, Challis Pascucci. A - 1,678