Final Homestand: Bobcat Women Host Northern Colorado

MONTANA STATE-NORTHERN COLORADO GAME NOTES (pdf)

LAST HOME STAND:
The Montana State women's basketball team will play its final home games of the season this week in Worthington Arena. The Bobcats will face Northern Colorado, Thursday, Feb. 9 at 7:05 p.m. On Saturday, Montana State will celebrate its lone senior, Katie Bussey, when it hosts Sacramento State at 2:05 p.m.

WARM UP THE BUS:
Saturday's game against Sacramento State marks the final regular-season home game for senior Katie Bussey. The 5-foot-9 guard from Alamosa, Colo., will be honored prior to tipoff. Bussey, who currently ranks third on MSU's all-time scoring chart, is closing in on the all-time Big Sky Conference three-point makes record, as well, and needs just five triples to overcome Weber State's Chelsey Warburton for the top spot. In addition, she is only 19 points away from becoming the third Bobcat to ever record 1,600 points and joining Bobcat Hall of Famers Kathleen McLaughlin Howard (1,761) and Vicki Heebner Carle (1,646) to accomplish the milestone. In all, Bussey currently ranks in the top 10 of eleven Montana State University women's basketball career statistical categories. Last Thursday night against Idaho State, Bussey tied the Big Sky mark and established a new MSU record with 41 points.

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 234 treys. The mark ranks third 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 1.0 makes per game. She is currently averaging 2.3 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 1,581 points ranks 3rd overall at Montana State. Three 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 overtime win at Idaho State with a school-record 41 points. On Saturday, Bussey recorded nine points four rebounds and four steals against Montana.

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 seventh double-double with 11 points and 16 rebounds against Idaho State. She also posted 13 points and nine boards against Montana on Saturday. Semansky has led MSU in rebounding in 13 games this season and has recorded ten double-digit rebounding games. She ranks 12th on MSU's all-time list (622). Semansky leads the team shooting .516 and is top in rebounding at 9.2 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 eight points and three rebounds in MSU's overtime win at Idaho State. Against Montana, she registered 7 points and six rebounds. Banis had 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 11.9 points and 7.3 rebounds from her small forward spot. Last weekend, Albert posted eight points and three rebounds at Idaho State. On Saturday against Montana, she had her second double-double of the year with a team-best 19 points and 11 rebounds. Albert's 11 boards versus the Lady Griz matched a career-high. Earlier this season, she posted a career-high 20 points against Big-10 foe Wisconsin. Overall, she has registered 15-of-23 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 was quiet, as she averaged just 1.5 points per game. On the plus side, she dished out 3.5 assists per outing, including a team-best 5 dishes versus Montana.

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, six rebounds, in MSU's overtime win at Idaho State. Although going scoreless against Montana on Saturday, she posted three assists and three steals. Earlier this season, Cole dished out a career-high 11 assists against the College of Idaho. She has notched 15 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 as the starting point-guard.

PHONE HOME:
Jackie Elliott, a true freshman from Billings, made two starts for the Bobcats with Chelsea Banis out of the line-up. Last weekend, Elliott came off the bench with two points in nine minutes at Idaho State. Against Montana, she logged 19 minutes with four boards and two points. For the season, Elliott is averaging 3.3 points and 2.9 rebounds. The graduate of Billing Central had a season-best 14 points against UM-Western and a season-high nine rebounds in MSU's win over Utah State. She is averaging 14.4 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 Thursday, Durham came off the bench and played 11 minutes against Idaho State. On Saturday, she tallied four points and four rebounds against Montana. The Miles City native is shooting 32 percent from beyond the arc. 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 five minutes of action against Idaho State on Thursday and posted three rebounds and two points. She played four minutes against Montana. 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

Katie Bussey
G, 5-9 Senior
Alamosa, Colorado

Katie Bussey matched the best offensive performance in Big Sky Conference history as Montana State knocked off previously undefeated Idaho State on the Bengals home court, Thursday night. Bussey posted a school-record and a Big Sky matching 41 points in the game. Against ISU, she connected on 11-23 from the field and 15-18 from the line. She also chipped in three rebounds and a steal. On Saturday, Bussey posted nine points, four rebounds and four steals against Montana. For the two games, Bussey averaged 25 points, 3.5 rebounds and 2.5 steals per game. In addition, the native of Alamosa, Colorado, made six 3-pointers, moving her into third on the all-time Big Sky list with 234 makes. She is now just five triples away from breaking the all-time league mark of 238 treys held by Chelsey Warburton of Weber State.

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 saw eight minutes against Idaho State, but did not play against Montana. On the season, she is averaging 1.8 points and 2.7 boards per game.

COLLEGEINSIDER.COM:
Montana State is once again receiving votes in the collegeinsider.com Mid-Major Women's Top 25 poll. The Bobcats earned 12 points, which places them 33rd overall. Idaho State is the only other Big Sky team and is receiving 59 points (27th) in the rankings. The No. 1 Mid-Major spot belongs to undefeated Wisconsin-Green Bay with 773 points.

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 scoring margin (+6.0), three-point field-goal percentage defense (.272) and defensive rebounds (29.1).

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).

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