Saturday afternoon the Lady Griz basketball team beat the Idaho State Bengals 61-49 inside Dahlberg Arena.

Lady Griz senior Kenzie De Boer played a big role in Montana getting the victory. She started out the game in a back and forth battle with Idaho State point guard Kaela Oakes.

Oakes put the Bengals up 4-0 with two early baskets, and De Boer finally got Montana on the board with a 3-pointer at the 16:41 mark. Moments later De Boer connected on another 3-point shot which put Montana up 6-4, and after that the two opposing players exchanged shots with each other, scoring 21 of the game's first 22 points.

De Boer finished with 16 points in the first half to put Montana up 28-19 at the break. In the second half Montana stepped up their defensive play, they held Idaho State to just 23 percent shooting from the field.

De Boer finished the game with 24 points and went 3-for-3 from 3-point range, but Idaho State limited senior Katie Baker to nine points on 3-of-10 shooting.

The win keeps the Lady Griz in first place in the Big Sky standings, they are now 19-6 overall and are 13-3 in conference play. With only four conference games left, every game is a must win. Montana will have a short break before playing again, the Lady Griz will be back in action Thursday, Feb. 28 when they host Southern Utah.