Ahley Albert had 15 second-half points, including three 3-pointers to help the Bobcats defeat the Lady Griz, Thursday night in the opening round of the Big Sky Conference Tournament.
Photo by: Kelly Gorham
Third Time’s A Charm: Bobcats Beat Lady Griz
3/8/2012 11:30:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Behind a tenacious defensive effort and solid, second-half play from Katie Bussey, Ashley Albert and Rachel Semansky the Montana State women’s basketball team handed intra-state rival Montana a 68-59 setback in the opening-round of the Big Sky Conference tournament, Thursday night in Reed Gym.
MONTANA STATE-MONTANA BOXSCORE (pdf)
Behind a tenacious defensive effort and solid, second-half play from Katie Bussey, Ashley Albert and Rachel Semansky the Montana State women's basketball team handed intra-state rival Montana a 68-59 setback in the opening-round of the Big Sky Conference tournament, Thursday night in Reed Gym.
Montana State (19-10) led by three-points at intermission and expanded the lead to 32-25 coming out of the locker room on back-to-back three-pointers by Jackie Elliott and Albert.
The Bobcats continued it's hot shooting and pesky defense using a 7-2 run down the stretch to take a 62-48 advantage with 3:25 remaining following a pair of free throws by Semansky.
Montana (16-14) answered back with a furious run thanks to Bobcat miscues and pulled to within 62-58 on two Kenzie De Boer charity tosses with 1:25 left.
Albert's jumper from the elbow with 48-seconds remaining helped stave off the Lady Griz surge and Elliott and Bussey each converted both ends of one-and-one situations at the line in the final 32-seconds to secure the win.
“At halftime a lot of our conversation was about just settling in, and getting a little bit loose,” said MSU head coach Tricia Binford. “We missed a lot of shots during the first half and we were confident that those were going to start dropping. I'm just really proud of our effort and Montana made it really exciting at the end.”
For the game, Bussey posted a team-high 18 points, followed by Albert 17 and Semansky 14.
Albert, a sophomore from Hamilton, scored 15 second-half points on six-of-seven from the field, including three-of-three from beyond the arc. Semansky added 10 points in the second period, while Bussey added eight points and five assists.
“Losing to them twice really hurt,” Albert said in reference to UM's season sweep of the Bobcats. “With this game we just had that much more of a desire to win and being in the tournament always adds that extra edge. We really prepared for them this time and really got it done on the defensive end. Like coach said, we just settled in and started to make shots but defense was really the difference maker in the game.”
Montana State shot 41 percent from the floor, including 48 percent in the final stanza. MSU also owned a 45-41 edge in rebounding. Semansky led the Bobcats under the glass with 11 rebounds for her eighth double-double of the season. Albert and Elliott also hauled down six boards, apiece.
MSU's win over the Lady Griz was the Bobcats' third straight over UM on a neutral floor in Big Sky Conference Tournament action.
UM was led in the loss by Katie baker with 19 points and 12 rebounds.
With Sacramento State's win over Eastern Washington in the tournament opener, the Bobcats will face No. 2 Northern Colorado at 5 p.m., followed by the Hornets and No. 1 Idaho State at 7:30 p.m.
Montana State swept the Bears during the regular-season.
Wednesday, January 26
Saturday, December 18
Thursday, November 04
Tuesday, November 02
