Bobcats Fall Short in Title Game

Saturday, March 5

Portland, OR

2:05 PM

Montana State University

Portland State

Photo by: R. Dean Hendrickson

3/5/2011 5:29:56 PM | Women's Basketball

The Montana State women’s basketball team fell inches short of its first Big Sky Conference regular-season championship since 2003 as Katie Bussey’s three-pointer as time expired clanged off the rim giving Portland State at 65-63 victory, Saturday afternoon in the Stott Center.

By: Tom Schulz

The Montana State women's basketball team fell inches short of its first Big Sky Conference regular-season championship since 2003 as Katie Bussey's three-pointer as time expired clanged off the rim giving Portland State at 65-63 victory, Saturday afternoon in the Stott Center.

Portland State's (19-10, 12-4) Eryn Jones converted two free throws with 4.4-seconds remaining to give the Vikings its first Big Sky regular-season title and hosting honors for next week's league tournament.

Montana State (17-13, 11-5) rallied from a lackluster first half and overcame a ten-point deficit in the second stanza to tie the game at 63-all on an Ausha Cole jumper with 12-seconds left. MSU had numerous chances to take the lead down the stretch, but never converted.

“We dug ourselves a big hole in the first half and it took a lot of energy to get back into the game,” said MSU head coach Tricia Binford. “We did a nice job in the second half and really got after it, but we came up short.

“It's disappointing for the players and it makes our path a little more difficult,” Binford said. “We've met the challenge all season and next weekend will not be any different.”

MSU senior Sarah Balian led the Bobcats with 17 points, including 11 points in the second half. Also in double-digits for Montana State were Bussey 16, Cole 13 and Rachel Semansky 11.

For the game, MSU shot 42 percent from the field, but connected on just four-of-20 from beyond the three-point arc.

Portland State won the battle under the glass out-rebounding Montana State 38-31. The Bobcats were paced under the boards by Lyndi Seidensticker and Balian with eight and seven rebounds respectively.

PSU was led by Jones with a game-high 23 points.

The Bobcats will enter next week's Big Sky Conference tournament as the No. 3 seed and will face No. 6 Eastern Washington on Thursday. No. 4 Montana and No. 5 Idaho State will also play in the opening round.

Northern Colorado, who lost at Idaho State on Saturday afternoon, will be the No. 2 seed and will receive a first-round bye along with the Vikings.