Bobcat Women Shoot Lights Out, Hold on For Win over Lady Griz
2/8/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
“I hope we can shoot like that every game,” said MSU head coach Tricia Binford, who notched her first victory over Montana in her three-year tenure at Montana State. “But, I like defense for security.”
Montana State (11-10, 6-3) senior Rebecca Mercer, playing on two hobbled feet, recorded a career-high 32 points, hitting 10-of-22 from the field, while going six-of-12 from three-point range.
Lost in the shuffle of Mercer’s out-pouring was the effort of sophomore Jenny Heringer, who for the second straight week, set a career-high with 23 points.
Also in double-digits were Krislyn Wallace 14, and Nubia Garcia 10.
Montana’s (17-5, 7-2) Sonya Rogers opened the game with a three-pointer seven-seconds in and the Lady Griz held the advantage until Mercer converted a pair of free throws to give the Bobcats a 27-25 lead at the 7:59 mark.
The Lady Griz responded with a 16-7 run to take its largest lead of the game at 41-34 following a Johanna Closson lay-up.
MSU cut the deficit to 43-42 at intermission behind a 6-0 run to close out the first stanza.
The first 12-minutes of the second half was all MSU as the Bobcats built an 83-64 advantage on a four-point play by Heringer with 7:41 remaining.
Montana State outscored the Lady Griz 41-21 during the span, sparked by its outstanding trio of Mercer, Heringer and Wallace. Mercer ignited the run with 14 points, followed by Heringer 12, and Wallace 10.
MSU’s 19-point margin; however, was short-lived as Montana rallied to close to within 89-86 on a Britney Lohman jumper with 32-seconds remaining.
Heringer then converted one-of-two free throws with 15-seconds left to give the Bobcats a 90-86 cushion. Mandy Morales’s jumper with 5-seconds remaining pulled UM to within three-points, but Heringer answered again hitting one-of-two tosses with four-seconds left to secure the win.
“I wasn’t nervous about shooting the free throws,” Heringer said. “I don’t know why in the heck I missed.
“Our team deserved this win,” Heringer added. “We worked our butts off against a great team.”
UM was led in the loss by Morales, who registered 24 points and five assists.
Montana State won the battle of the boards, out-rebounding the Lady Griz 36-33. The Bobcats were paced under the glass by Wallace with nine rebounds.
The combined 178 points is the highest total in the history of the rivalry, while MSU’s 91 points is the highest total scored by one team.
The victory moved the Bobcats just one game back of the top spot in the Big Sky Conference.
The Bobcats will travel to Sacramento State on Wednesday.
Montana State (11-10, 6-3) senior Rebecca Mercer, playing on two hobbled feet, recorded a career-high 32 points, hitting 10-of-22 from the field, while going six-of-12 from three-point range.
Lost in the shuffle of Mercer’s out-pouring was the effort of sophomore Jenny Heringer, who for the second straight week, set a career-high with 23 points.
Also in double-digits were Krislyn Wallace 14, and Nubia Garcia 10.
Montana’s (17-5, 7-2) Sonya Rogers opened the game with a three-pointer seven-seconds in and the Lady Griz held the advantage until Mercer converted a pair of free throws to give the Bobcats a 27-25 lead at the 7:59 mark.
The Lady Griz responded with a 16-7 run to take its largest lead of the game at 41-34 following a Johanna Closson lay-up.
MSU cut the deficit to 43-42 at intermission behind a 6-0 run to close out the first stanza.
The first 12-minutes of the second half was all MSU as the Bobcats built an 83-64 advantage on a four-point play by Heringer with 7:41 remaining.
Montana State outscored the Lady Griz 41-21 during the span, sparked by its outstanding trio of Mercer, Heringer and Wallace. Mercer ignited the run with 14 points, followed by Heringer 12, and Wallace 10.
MSU’s 19-point margin; however, was short-lived as Montana rallied to close to within 89-86 on a Britney Lohman jumper with 32-seconds remaining.
Heringer then converted one-of-two free throws with 15-seconds left to give the Bobcats a 90-86 cushion. Mandy Morales’s jumper with 5-seconds remaining pulled UM to within three-points, but Heringer answered again hitting one-of-two tosses with four-seconds left to secure the win.
“I wasn’t nervous about shooting the free throws,” Heringer said. “I don’t know why in the heck I missed.
“Our team deserved this win,” Heringer added. “We worked our butts off against a great team.”
UM was led in the loss by Morales, who registered 24 points and five assists.
Montana State won the battle of the boards, out-rebounding the Lady Griz 36-33. The Bobcats were paced under the glass by Wallace with nine rebounds.
The combined 178 points is the highest total in the history of the rivalry, while MSU’s 91 points is the highest total scored by one team.
The victory moved the Bobcats just one game back of the top spot in the Big Sky Conference.
The Bobcats will travel to Sacramento State on Wednesday.
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