Thursday, January 26
Bozeman, MT
7:05 p.m.
Montana State University
70
vs
50
PORTLAND STATE
Photo by: R. Dean Hendrickson
Big Second Half Propels Bobcat Women to Victory
1/26/2012 10:36:00 PM | Women's Basketball
The Montana State defense dictated its offense and held Portland State’s leading scorer to just five points, en route to a 70-50 win over the Vikings, Thursday night in Worthington Arena.
The Montana State defense dictated its offense and held Portland State's leading scorer to just five points, en route to a 70-50 win over the Vikings, Thursday night in Worthington Arena.
After trailing by one-point at intermission, Montana State (14-6, 6-2) outscored Portland State (11-8, 3-4) 42-21 in the second stanza, including limiting the Vikings to just one field-goal in the final 11:44.
“At intermission, we talked about throwing out the first half in terms of our offense,” said MSU head coach Tricia Binford, who tied Judy Spoelstra for the most victories (98) in Bobcat women's basketball history. “We decided to let our defense carry us and it really got us going. We got a lot of quick hits in the open court and Chelsea Banis and Rachel (Semansky) got after it in the paint.”
In the first stanza, the Vikings held a six-point advantage before a Katie Bussey layup and an Ashley Albert three-pointer at the buzzer pulled the Bobcats to within one at the break.
In the second period, Portland State held a 45-42 lead before Montana State rattled off a 28-5 run in the final 11:44 of the game.
MSU had three players in double-figures, including Bussey with a game-high 20 points, while Banis chipped in 17 and Semansky 12.
The Bobcat defense shut down PSU's leading scorer Kate Lanz to just two baskets. Lanz entered the game averaging 20.7 points in Big Sky action.
MSU finished shooting 45 percent from the field, while holding PSU to 35 percent, including a paltry 27 percent in the second half. MSU forced 23 Viking turnovers, while committing just 11 miscues. Bussey and Ausha Cole posted four and three steals, respectively.
Banis paced the Bobcats under the boards with a team-high nine rebounds, while Semansky added six.
Portland State was paced by Courtney VanBrocklin with 17 points.
MSU will host Eastern Washington on Saturday for sole possession of second place in the Big Sky Conference. Tipoff is slated for 2:05 p.m.
After trailing by one-point at intermission, Montana State (14-6, 6-2) outscored Portland State (11-8, 3-4) 42-21 in the second stanza, including limiting the Vikings to just one field-goal in the final 11:44.
“At intermission, we talked about throwing out the first half in terms of our offense,” said MSU head coach Tricia Binford, who tied Judy Spoelstra for the most victories (98) in Bobcat women's basketball history. “We decided to let our defense carry us and it really got us going. We got a lot of quick hits in the open court and Chelsea Banis and Rachel (Semansky) got after it in the paint.”
In the first stanza, the Vikings held a six-point advantage before a Katie Bussey layup and an Ashley Albert three-pointer at the buzzer pulled the Bobcats to within one at the break.
In the second period, Portland State held a 45-42 lead before Montana State rattled off a 28-5 run in the final 11:44 of the game.
MSU had three players in double-figures, including Bussey with a game-high 20 points, while Banis chipped in 17 and Semansky 12.
The Bobcat defense shut down PSU's leading scorer Kate Lanz to just two baskets. Lanz entered the game averaging 20.7 points in Big Sky action.
MSU finished shooting 45 percent from the field, while holding PSU to 35 percent, including a paltry 27 percent in the second half. MSU forced 23 Viking turnovers, while committing just 11 miscues. Bussey and Ausha Cole posted four and three steals, respectively.
Banis paced the Bobcats under the boards with a team-high nine rebounds, while Semansky added six.
Portland State was paced by Courtney VanBrocklin with 17 points.
MSU will host Eastern Washington on Saturday for sole possession of second place in the Big Sky Conference. Tipoff is slated for 2:05 p.m.
Bobcat Insider TV Show
Wednesday, January 26
vs. Seattle (Live Stream Video)
Saturday, December 18
Inside The Brick (Lexi Deden)
Thursday, November 04
Inside The Brick (Leia Beattie)
Tuesday, November 02
