By Kelvin Ang 

The one thing fans probably took away from Idaho State’s 66-60 home defeat to Northern Arizona on Thursday was the Bengals’ poor rebounding in the final two-plus minutes.

Poor rebounding also played a big part in costing Idaho State its game against Portland State on Jan. 10, as well as against St. Mary’s on Dec. 20 and Colorado on Dec. 30. Northern Arizona out-rebounded Idaho State 44-33 on Thursday, racking up an astonishing 16-5 advantage on the offensive glass. The Lumberjacks grabbed offensive boards on two missed free throws that effectively helped them kill out the clock.

Please see Friday’s edition of our paper for more.

But there were also many positives that I didn’t get to touch on in my stories. For one, Idaho State turned the ball over just eight time, a far cry from its totals earlier in the season.

Jenna Brown quietly compiled a mighty impressive stat line — 11 points, six assists and seven rebounds, the last figure tying her personal best.

Also, Oana Iacovita scored 16 points on a variety of assertive post moves, and she also blocked three shots. Just like with Chelsea Pickering, fans who watch the Bengals a lot surely must get the sense that Iacovita has the potential to be much more than the 11-point-per-game scorer she was entering the game, if only she plays every second like she does during her periodic flashes of brilliance.

Player of the game: Michelle Grohs
Grohs sparked Idaho State’s second-half comeback by scoring 13 of her 16 points in the second half. She hit 5-for-10 field goals and 2-of-5 treys. It was her 3-pointer with 3:19 to go that tied the game at 58-58, the first time since the first half Idaho State did not trail.

Reserve of the game: Sheila Adams
Idaho State coach Seton Sobolewski substituted Adams into the game for Verity Peets with 19:27 left in the game, and he ended up sticking with the small lineup the rest of the way. Adams played 27 minutes, scored eight points, grabbed two rebounds and only turned the ball over once.

Play of the game:
Pick any one of the six offensive boards the Lumberjacks grabbed in the final 2:17.

Reason to hope:
Well, after a sub-par showing with its zone defense in the first half, Idaho State bore down and played really solid man-to-man defense in the second. The Bengals limited the Lumberjacks to 29.6 percent shooting from the field after halftime, a showing that could have translated to a win if only the Bengals’ offense didn’t go cold toward the end of the game.

Reason to mope:
See “Play of the Game.” This has been a recurring theme.

Up Next:
Idaho State next hosts Sacramento State at 1:05 p.m. Saturday. Sacramento State beat Weber State on the road Thursday, which means the Hornets and Bengals will sport identical 2-4 Big Sky records entering the game.