Bengals beat Montana to advance

The Idaho State women’s basketball team defeated Montana 63-53 Monday night in the first round of the Big Sky Conference tournament at the Reno Events Center. The Bengals took a 40-28 lead into halftime and never trailed in the second half.

Isabel Vara De Rey paced ISU with 18 points, including a perfect 10-10 performance from the free-throw line. Lindsay Brown added 16 for the Bengals, who advance to play Northern Colorado Wednesday in the quarterfinal round. Tip off is set for 9:05 p.m. MST.