Montana State University
UC Riverside
Montana State Women Post Strong First Half and Stave off UCR Rally for Win
12/27/2009 8:53:40 PM | Women's Basketball
Montana State used a 13-point halftime advantage and hit clutch shots down the stretch to stave off a UC Riverside rally to post an 82-74 win over the Highlanders, Sunday evening in Worthington Arena.
Montana
“I thought we had a very solid first half,” said MSU head coach Tricia Binford. “However, complacency got the better of us in the second half and it took everything we had to come out on top. Hopefully, we learned that we need to do a much better job finishing a game.”
MSU built a 22-13 advantage in the first ten minutes of the opening period and held a 45-32 margin at intermission. The Bobcats shot 48 percent from the field and held a 21-11 advantage in rebounding.
MSU answered with back-to-back triples by Bussey and Albert to push the margin to 71-64 with 4:01 left. The Highlanders pulled to within five with two minutes remaining, but would get no closer as Bak and Perry combined for 11 points down the stretch.
“The positives that come out of the game were our scoring balance, clutch shooting and our assists-to-turnover ratio,” Binford said. 'We have plenty to take care off before the Big Sky opener against
For the game, MSU shot 49 percent from the field, including connecting on 11-of-23 three-pointers. UCR shot 52 percent and converted 19-of-24 free throws.
The Bobcats won the battle of the boards, out-rebounding the Highlanders 35-24. Aside from Bak, MSU was paced under the glass by Rachel Semansky with six rebounds.
The Bobcats also notched 20 assists for its second best showing of the season. Perry led all players with six assists, while Semansky added four and Bussey, three.
UCR was led in the loss by Alyssa Morris with 20 points and six rebounds.
