Montana State University
Eastern Washington
Eastern Washington Clips Bobcat Women
1/9/2010 10:46:05 PM | Women's Basketball
Eastern Washington built a 13-point first half lead and withstood a Montana State rally in the second half to post a 69-63 victory, Saturday night at Reese Court.
MSU-EWU Boxscore
Eastern Washington built a 13-point first half lead and withstood a Montana State rally in the second half to post a 69-63 victory, Saturday night at Reese Court.
Eastern Washington (9-6, 3-0) built its largest lead of the opening period with 5:20 remaining in the first stanza and held a 38-29 advantage at intermission.
In the second half, Montana State (8-9, 1-3) rallied and took its first lead of the period with 7:14 left.
The two point cushion was MSU's largest lead of the game. The contest featured nine ties and eight lead changes; however, the Bobcats went cold from the floor going without a field-goal in the final 3:48 as EWU withstood the MSU rally.
“It goes down to taking care of the details,” said MSU head coach Tricia Binford. “For the second night we gave up too many offensive boards and had too many turnovers. You just can't afford to lose focus in this league. Every team has the ability to win on any given night, and tonight, we lacked the respect and focus we needed to get the win.”
MSU was paced by junior Sarah Strand with 15 points and six rebounds. Also hitting double-figures were Katie Bussey 13, and Lyndi Seidensticker 10.
For the game, the Bobcats shot 45 percent from the field, including 48 percent in the second stanza. Montana State held Eastern Washington to 37 percent, but the Eagles enjoyed a 23-27 effort from the free throw line. The Bobcats ended the game 8-11 from the stripe.
EWU held a slim 39-34 advantage in rebounding, but gathered 18 offensive boards. The Bobcats gave up 19 offensive rebounds in its loss at Portland State on Friday night. MSU was led under the glass by Strand and Rachel Semansky with six rebounds.
The Eagle defense forced 20 MSU miscues, while committing just 11 turnovers.
Julie Piper led Eastern Washington with 17 points and eight rebounds.
Montana State will host Sacramento State on Saturday in Worthington Arena.
