POCATELLO — The Weber State women's basketball team's season came to an end after an 81-69 loss Saturday at Idaho State that eliminated the Wildcats from qualifying for the Big Sky Tournament.

It marks the first time in 13 years that WSU will not be competing in the league's postseason tournament.

The Wildcats jumped out to an 8-2 lead early in the game, but Idaho State went on a 27-6 run over the next 11 minutes of the first half and took a 29-14 lead with 5:48 to play.

Weber State came back and closed the half on a 17-10 run to cut the ISU lead to eight points at halftime. In the second half, though, the Wildcats never got closer than eight points, with Idaho State leading by 19 at one point as the Bengals won their fifth straight game over the Wildcats.

"We battled really hard today and did some good things; we just didn't shoot well and that made a difference," said WSU head coach Carla Taylor. "We can't let a team like Idaho State get a lead because it is so hard to recover."

For the game Weber State shot just 38 percent from the field, while allowing the Bengals to shoot 49 percent, the best percentage by a conference opponent this season. ISU shot 50 percent in the second half. ISU was also 22-of-24 from the free-throw line, while the 'Cats shot just 8-of-13 from the line.

The Wildcats had a season-low seven turnovers, compared to 17 by the Bengals. WSU also out rebounded Idaho State 43-38, including 22 offensive rebounds for Weber State

The 'Cats were led by sophomore Tonya Schnibbe, who tied her career-high with 17 points and also had four assists. Schnibbe finished the year with 154 assists, the second-most in Weber State single-season history.

Senior Sara Tuomi returned after missing last week's game because of an MCL injury. Tuomi came off the bench for the first time in her career and scored 13 points in 33 minutes of action.

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Natalie Doma, the Big Sky's all-time leading scorer, finished with 32 points and also grabbed 15 rebounds to lead Idaho State. She entered the game third in the nation in both categories. Andrea Lightfoot added 17 points for the Bengals.

The loss ends Weber State's season at 12-16 overall and 6-10 in Big Sky action, their worst conference record since 1995. WSU ends the season tied with Northern Arizona for sixth place in the league standings, but the 'Cats lose the tiebreaker because of NAU's season sweep.

It also marks the first time Weber State failed to qualify for the Big Sky Tournament since the 1995 season, ending a streak of 12 straight conference tournament appearances.

The Big Sky tournament will be held next Thursday-Saturday in Missoula, Mont. Idaho State will enter the tournament as the second seed and receive a first-round bye. Montana will be the No. 1 seed after finishing with a 13-3 conference record.

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