Montana State University
#2 Baylor
Montana State women battle, but can’t keep Bears off boards
11/13/2010 7:12:27 PM | Women's Basketball
The Montana State women’s basketball team went up against Goliath on Saturday afternoon and eventually succumbed to No. 2 Baylor 93-56 at the Basketball Travelers World Vision Classic.
The Montana State women's basketball team went up against Goliath on Saturday afternoon and eventually succumbed to No. 2 Baylor 93-56 at the Basketball Travelers World Vision Classic.
The Bobcats jumped out to a quick 4-0 advantage on back-to-back buckets by Rachel Semansky. Montana State's (0-2) fast start forced Baylor head coach Kim Mulkey to bench her starters.
MSU held an 8-6 advantage at the 16:53 mark following an Ally Schmitt jumper. The margin would be MSU's last of the game as Baylor's (2-0) first five received the message from its head coach.
The Bobcats, however, kept it close and a Lyndi Seidensticker trey with 10:10 remaining pulled MSU to within 23-21.
Baylor then rattled off seven unanswered points and built its cushion to 46-32 at intermission.
“I thought we had a nice first half,” said MSU head coach Tricia Binford. “And even though they had a big rebound advantage, I thought if we could've converted a few three-pointers, here or there, the score at halftime might have been interesting.”
Montana State opened the second half with a Katie Bussey basket and a Seidensticker triple to help the Bobcats close to within 46-37 just one minute into the stanza.
It would be the closest MSU would get the rest of the game.
Baylor responded to Montana State's furious start with 11 straight points to push its advantage to 57-37 and the Bears cruised to the victory.
“Baylor got out in transition and we weren't able to keep up with them,” Binford said. “Our shot selection was being effected by their size.”
Montana State was paced in the loss by Sarah Balian and Bussey with 12 points each, while Semansky added 11. Seidensticker finished with nine points, all coming from behind the arc.
For the game, MSU shot just 29 percent from the field and 92 percent from the free throw line
Baylor finished with a sizeable 59-28 advantage in rebounding. The Bobcats were led under the boards by Semansky with a team-high eight rebounds.
The Bears also held an advantage at the free throw line converting 34-of-44, while MSU hit 12-of-13.
BU was led by Melissa Jones with 17 points and 11 rebounds. National Player of the Year candidate Brittney Griner ended with 15 points and seven rebounds.
“I thought we did a nice job on Griner,” Binford said. “Sarah (Balian) was an animal defensively and forced her into bad shots.”
The Bobcats will conclude play at the tournament Sunday morning against Florida International.
