Montana State Women Serve Notice, Down Lady Bears for GranTree Title
11/30/2002 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
could be the biggest victory in Bobcat women’s basketballhistory.
She might be right.
Baylor, who finished second in the powerful Big 12 Conferencelast season with a 27-6 overall mark and a No. 7 ranking in thefinal AP poll, had a hard time keeping up with the MontanaState (4-0) fast break down the stretch as the Bobcats posteda 75-66 win over the Lady Bears to capture the title of the 7thGranTree Inn Thanksgiving Classic, Saturday night.
"I think we wanted it more," Potera-Haskins said. "We showeda tremendous amount of heart and although the crowd was
small in numbers, they were mighty in spirit and really gave us a boost to close out the game."
MSU senior Isabel Stubbs paced the Bobcats with a game-high 26 points and 13 rebounds.
The native of Ayr, Australia, converted ten-of-15 from the field, en route to being named the
GranTree Inn Classic MVP. Also in double-figures for Montana State were Candis Wilcox
and Kati Burrows with 17 and 15 points, respectively. Both garnered all-tournament
accolades, as well.
Montana State jumped out to a quick 7-3 lead on a field-goal by Stubbs before Baylor (4-1)
knotted the game at 11-all at the 12:54 mark on a Steffanie Blackmon basket. The Bobcats
answered with an 8-1 run to take a 19-12 advantage following a Tabitha Wesley bucket.
However, the Lady Bears rattled off a 14-6 run to take a 26-25 lead on a Blackmon lay-in
and entered intermission with a 31-30 margin.
"I thought we got out to a great start and our confidence grew throughout the half,"
Potera-Haskins said. "Isabel (Stubbs) did a nice job on the low blocks and our guards did a
great job of getting her the ball."
In the second stanza, Burrows nailed a three-pointer at the start of the half to give MSU a
33-31 advantage and a lead they never relinquished. Leading 42-41 at the 14:29 mark, the
Bobcats went on a 16-3 run to take their largest lead of the game at 58-44 with 6:59
remaining on a pair of Stubbs free throws. The ‘Cats converted ten-of-12 free throw attempts
down the stretch in the final two-minutes to secure the win.
"They were bigger than us and they were faster than us, but our
hearts we bigger than theirs," said sophomore Kati Burrows.
Baylor was paced in the loss by Blackmon, who notched 23
points and 13 rebounds. Also in double-figures for the Lady
Bears were Sophia Young and Chelsea Whitaker with 13 and
ten points, respectively.
For the game, Montana State shot 45 percent from the field,
while holding Baylor to 39 percent, including only 32 percent in
the second stanza. The Lady Bears out-rebounded MSU by a
43 to 41 margin. Besides Stubbs’ 13 boards, junior college
transfer Sheila Hutchison added nine rebounds, four assists and
four steals to help the Bobcat effort.
"This is a huge win for our program," Potera-Haskins said. "It’s proves that we’re for real. I’m
ecstatic for the girls."
In the third place game Northern Illinois defeated San Jose State 78-72.
Also named to the GranTree Inn Thanksgiving Classic all tournament team were Blackmon of
Baylor, Sophia Young of Baylor and Jennifer Youngblood of Northern Illinois.
MSU will play at the DePaul-Moran Realty Classic next weekend in Chicago.
She might be right.
Baylor, who finished second in the powerful Big 12 Conferencelast season with a 27-6 overall mark and a No. 7 ranking in thefinal AP poll, had a hard time keeping up with the MontanaState (4-0) fast break down the stretch as the Bobcats posteda 75-66 win over the Lady Bears to capture the title of the 7thGranTree Inn Thanksgiving Classic, Saturday night.
"I think we wanted it more," Potera-Haskins said. "We showeda tremendous amount of heart and although the crowd was
small in numbers, they were mighty in spirit and really gave us a boost to close out the game."
MSU senior Isabel Stubbs paced the Bobcats with a game-high 26 points and 13 rebounds.
The native of Ayr, Australia, converted ten-of-15 from the field, en route to being named the
GranTree Inn Classic MVP. Also in double-figures for Montana State were Candis Wilcox
and Kati Burrows with 17 and 15 points, respectively. Both garnered all-tournament
accolades, as well.
Montana State jumped out to a quick 7-3 lead on a field-goal by Stubbs before Baylor (4-1)
knotted the game at 11-all at the 12:54 mark on a Steffanie Blackmon basket. The Bobcats
answered with an 8-1 run to take a 19-12 advantage following a Tabitha Wesley bucket.
However, the Lady Bears rattled off a 14-6 run to take a 26-25 lead on a Blackmon lay-in
and entered intermission with a 31-30 margin.
"I thought we got out to a great start and our confidence grew throughout the half,"
Potera-Haskins said. "Isabel (Stubbs) did a nice job on the low blocks and our guards did a
great job of getting her the ball."
In the second stanza, Burrows nailed a three-pointer at the start of the half to give MSU a
33-31 advantage and a lead they never relinquished. Leading 42-41 at the 14:29 mark, the
Bobcats went on a 16-3 run to take their largest lead of the game at 58-44 with 6:59
remaining on a pair of Stubbs free throws. The ‘Cats converted ten-of-12 free throw attempts
down the stretch in the final two-minutes to secure the win.
"They were bigger than us and they were faster than us, but our
hearts we bigger than theirs," said sophomore Kati Burrows.
Baylor was paced in the loss by Blackmon, who notched 23
points and 13 rebounds. Also in double-figures for the Lady
Bears were Sophia Young and Chelsea Whitaker with 13 and
ten points, respectively.
For the game, Montana State shot 45 percent from the field,
while holding Baylor to 39 percent, including only 32 percent in
the second stanza. The Lady Bears out-rebounded MSU by a
43 to 41 margin. Besides Stubbs’ 13 boards, junior college
transfer Sheila Hutchison added nine rebounds, four assists and
four steals to help the Bobcat effort.
"This is a huge win for our program," Potera-Haskins said. "It’s proves that we’re for real. I’m
ecstatic for the girls."
In the third place game Northern Illinois defeated San Jose State 78-72.
Also named to the GranTree Inn Thanksgiving Classic all tournament team were Blackmon of
Baylor, Sophia Young of Baylor and Jennifer Youngblood of Northern Illinois.
MSU will play at the DePaul-Moran Realty Classic next weekend in Chicago.
Wednesday, June 10
Friday, March 27
Monday, March 23
Friday, March 13
