Big Weekend for Bobcat Women's Hoops

MSU GAME NOTES - 14 (pdf)

GOING AWAY THEN COMING HOME:
The Montana State women's basketball squad will make a quick trip to Pocatello on Thursday, Feb. 2 to face league-leading Idaho State in Reed Gym at 7:05 p.m. The Bobcats will then return to Worthington Arena and the Brick Breeden Fieldhouse for its first encounter with intra-state rival Montana, Saturday at 2:05 p.m.

PLAY 4KAY:
Saturday's game against Montana has been slated as its Play 4Kay contest, which helps support the Kay Yow Cancer Fund. Named after Yow, former North Carolina State head coach and past president of the WBCA, who passed away in 2009 from breast cancer, this annual game is committed to being part of finding an answer in the fight against women's cancers through raising money for scientific research, assisting the underserved and unifying people for a common cause.

PAINTING THE BRICK BLUE AND GOLD:
Saturday's game against Montana will be a Gold Rush affair. Fans attending are asked to wear gold in support of the Bobcats. Students attending the game will receive a free t-shirt courtesy of Bobcat Athletics.

PILOT OF THE AIRWAVES:
All Montana State women's basketball games - exhibition through postseason - will be carried live on KZMY My 103.5 FM. Tyler Wiltgen is in his fifth year calling the action. Wiltgen's pregame show begins 20-minutes prior to tip off.

FOR YOUR LISTENING/VIEWING PLEASURE:
Montana State women's basketball home and Big Sky Conference games can be seen via free video streaming at www.b2tv.com. In addition, games can be heard on the web by clicking the Bobcat Sports Radio Network button at www.msubobcats.com. Live stats are also available for home games at www.msubobcats.com or at each opponent's website in the case of away games.

TIME TO GET BUSSEY:
Katie Bussey has established herself as Montana State's all-time three-point makes queen. Bussey continues to add on to her school record, which currently stands at 228 treys. The mark ranks fourth on the all-time Big Sky chart. The league mark of 238 is held by Chelsey Warburton (Weber State, 2004-07). Bussey will have a good shot at breaking the conference mark as she will need to average 1.6 makes per game. She is currently averaging 2.2 makes per contest. A two-time All Big Sky performer and the 2008-09 Big Sky Freshman of the Year, she is also moving up the MSU all-time scoring ladder. Her current total of 1,531 points ranks 3rd overall at Montana State. Two weeks ago, she became the 4th member of MSU's prestigious 1500-point club against Northern Colorado. Last weekend, the native of Alamosa, Colo., paced Montana State in its 70-50 win over Portland State with a game-high 20 points. She also added four assists and four steals against the Vikings. Bussey was held to four points against E. Washington.

THE PRIDE OF HIGHWOOD:
Junior Rachel Semansky, a first-team All Big Sky selection last winter, continued her strong and consistent 2011-12 campaign last weekend, posting her sixth double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds against Eastern Washington. She also hit double-figures with 12 points in MSU's win over Portland State. Semansky has led MSU in rebounding in 12 games this season and has recorded nine double-digit rebounding games. She ranks 12th on MSU's all-time list (597). Semansky leads the team shooting .524 and is top in rebounding at 8.9 per outing. The pride of Highwood recorded a career-high 30 points against the College of Idaho and hauled down a career-best 18 rebounds against NAU.

CHELSEA, LATELY:
Sophomore Chelsea Banis, who returned to the Bobcat roster this season after missing 15 Big Sky Conference games last winter due to a torn MCL, has worked herself back into MSU's starting rotation. The native of Fairfield averaged 9.5 points and 6.5 rebounds, while shooting 54 percent from the field as a freshman. Banis is averaging almost 10 points per game this year. Last weekend, she tallied 17 points and nine rebounds in MSU's win over Portland State. Against Eastern Washington, she chipped in eight points. Banis recorded a career-high 28 points at Utah Valley on Jan. 1, 2011.

DOUBLE A:
Sophomore Ashley Albert, a 6-foot-1 forward from Hamilton, Mont., returned to the Montana State lineup after missing all of the 2010-11 season with a torn ACL. As a freshman, Albert averaged 6.3 points and 3.0 rebounds, while shooting 42 percent. This season, Albert has been a steady performer for the Bobcats and is currently chipping in 11.8 points and 7.4 rebounds from her small forward spot. Last weekend, Albert posted five points and five rebounds in MSU's win over Portland State. In Montana State's loss to Eastern Washington, Albert was second on the squad with nine rebounds. Albert's 11 boards versus Idaho State on Jan. 5, matched a career-high. Earlier this season, she posted a career-high 20 points against Big-10 foe Wisconsin. Overall, she has registered 14-of-21 games in double-figure scoring games.

SWISHA:
Junior Latisha Adams has transitioned into the starting point-guard role, which gives the Bobcats added size at the spot. Last season, the 5-foot-9 native of Albuquerque, New Mexico, averaged 2.8 points, 1.9 rebounds and 1.8 assists. Adams recorded a career-high 11 points at Weber State on Jan. 17, 2011 and pulled down a career-high eight rebounds against Sacramento State two weeks ago. Last weekend, Adams averaged 3.0 points and 1.5 rebounds per game. She also registered two steals. Adams had her best outing of the season with 10 points vs. No. Arizona.

AUSHA BY-GOSHA:
In her second season, Ausha Cole, a 5-foot-6 point guard, is currently second in assist/turnover ratio at +1.9 in Big Sky play. She is also ranked seventh in assists and ninth in steals. Last Thursday, Cole came off the bench and recorded five points, four rebounds, four assists and three steals in MSU's win over Portland State. Earlier this season, Cole dished out a career-high 11 assists against the College of Idaho. She has notched 14 games with a positive assist/turnover ratio. As a frosh, Cole received her first start against CS Bakersfield playing 29 minutes and dishing out seven assists. MSU went 15-6 overall with Cole at the starting point-guard spot. Cole has notched a career-best 13 points on two occasions.

PHONE HOME:
Jackie Elliott, a true freshman from Billings, made two starts (UMW/CI) for the Bobcats with Chelsea Banis out of the line-up. Last weekend, Elliott came off the bench and had four points in both games, in addition to three rebounds. For the season, Elliott is averaging 3.5 points and 3.0 rebounds. The graduate of Billing Central notched a season-best 14 points against UM-Western and pulled down a season-best nine rebounds in MSU's win over Utah State. She is averaging 14.5 minutes per contest.

ALL IN THE FAMILY:
Kalli Durham and the Bobcats have a long and storied family history on the Bozeman campus. Durham's grandfather (Lin), uncle (Mick) and cousin (Casey) played for the Montana State men's team. Uncle Mick served as the men's head coach at MSU for 16 years and is the current head coach at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Father Mark is the current athletic director and former head men's coach at UM-Western. Last Saturday, Durham came off the bench to notch four points against Eastern Washington- all from the free throw line. The Miles City native is shooting 35 percent from beyond the arc, which is tops on the team. She recorded a season-high 19 points against the College of Idaho.

ALLONS-Y CHATTE:
Destini French, a 6-foot-2 freshman center from Playa del Rey, Calif., is logging some playing time for the Bobcats after tearing her ACL/MCL her senior season at St. Bernard. French saw six minutes of action against Portland State on Thursday and played three minutes with two points and a rebound against Eastern Washington. French registered a career-high six points and hauled down four rebounds against the College of Idaho on Nov. 20, 2011.

SYMONE SAYS:
Symone Brown did not play last weekend. She saw her first action of the season against the College of Idaho and logged seven minutes. She pulled down two rebounds in the contest. Brown, a 5-9 guard who prepped at Richard Gahr High School, averaged 20.8 points and 5.9 rebounds per game as a senior. As a senior, Brown was selected to the CIF Division 3AA First-Team, as well as the San Gabriel Valley League First-Team; Long Beach Press Telegram Dream Team; and the Cerritos Community News First-Team.

MONTANA STATE
PLAYER OF THE WEEK

Rachel Semansky
6-0, Forward, Junior
Highwood, Montana

Rachel Semansky had a solid weekend as the Bobcats split a pair of home games, defeating Portland State, before dropping a 66-52 decision to Eastern Washington. Against the Vikings, Semansky notched 12 points, connecting on five-of-13 from the field, including one three-pointer. In addition, she pulled down six rebounds, while adding two assists, three steals and a block. In MSU's loss to EWU, the native of Highwood posted her sixth double-double of the year with a team-high 19 points and ten rebounds. She shot 44 percent from the field and added an assist and a steal. On the weekend, Semansky averaged 15.5 points and 8.0 rebounds per contest, while shooting 41 percent from the floor.

WELCOME BACK, ELMO:
Bobcat sophomore forward Emily Allen rejoined the team after sitting out the first semester for personal reasons. The native of Gold Coast, Australia made her presence felt right away in MSU's win over North Dakota in Worthington Arena prior to the Christmas break. Against UND she registered a career-high 11 rebounds, to go along with eight points. Last weekend, Allen struggled from the field, but pulled down three rebounds in the two games. On the season, she is averaging 2.0 points and 2.9 boards per game.

COLLEGEINSIDER.COM:
The Bobcats fell from receiving 'other votes' in the collegeinsider.com's Women's Mid-Major Top 25 poll. The No. 1 Mid-Major spot belongs to Wisconsin-Green Bay with 773 points. Idaho State (90) enters the poll for the first time at No. 25.

IT'S ALL ABOUT THE TEAM:
The Bobcats rank among the league's top five in 17 of the Big Sky's 21 statistical categories. MSU is ranked first in assist/turnover ratio (+0.9) and defensive rebounds (28.6).

POWER OUTAGE:
MSU's only hiccup so far this season is in its games against the 'so-called' power conferences. MSU finished 2-4 with wins over Colorado State (Mountain West) and Utah State (WAC) and losses to Oregon State (Pac-12), Wisconsin (Big 10), Illinois (Big 10) and #13 Georgia (SEC).

TOSSING THE ROCK:
Rachel Semansky is ranked 36th in the nation in field-goal percentage hitting at a 52 percent clip.

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