Eastern Washington Knocks off Bobcats in Big Sky Tourney

Thursday, March 10

4:30 pm

Montana State University

Eastern Washington

Photo by: R. Dean Hendrickson

Eastern Washington Knocks off Bobcats in Big Sky Tourney

3/10/2011 7:52:29 PM | Women's Basketball

By: Tom Schulz

Eastern Washington used a 15-0 run in the second half to turn a five-point deficit into a 10-point lead and held off Montana State for a 77-68 win over the Bobcats in the opening round of the Big Sky Conference tournament, Thursday night in the Stott Center.

Eastern Washington (13-17) held a 29-28 advantage at intermission despite trailing by seven points at the 12:06 mark as Montana State's (17-14) Lyndi Seidensticker nailed a three-pointer.

MSU opened the second stanza taking a 44-39 lead with 14:21 left on a Sarah Balian jumper, before the Eagles went on its scoring spree.

“We had too many turnovers on the offensive end and our transition defense just wasn't there,” said MSU head coach Tricia Binford. “Everything that could've gone wrong did.”

The Bobcats were paced Katie Bussey, who finished with a team-high 18 points, all coming in the second half. Also in double-figures were Balian 15 and Seidensticker 14.

MSU received an early spark from freshman Chelsea Banis who saw her first action since tearing her MCL on Jan. 6 in the Big Sky opener against Sacramento State. The Fairfield native finished with four points, four rebounds and a blocked shot in 13 minutes of action.

“We've been challenged all year and I'm proud of the way our kids competed when they could've folded their tents,” Binford said. “It's going to be tough without Sarah and Lyndi, but they have left the program in a good place.”

EWU was led in the win by Tatjana Sparavalo, who tied a career-high with 25 points, including a four-of-seven effort from three-point range.