Thursday, January 3
Portland, OR
7:30 p.m.
Montana State University
at
PORTLAND STATE
Photo by: Kelly Gorham
Bobcat Women Travel to Portland State, Eastern Washington
1/2/2013 3:56:00 PM | Women's Basketball
MSU will start its post-Christmas league play at Portland State on Thursday, Jan. 3 at 8:30 p.m. (MST) in the Rose City. The Bobcats will close out the weekend at Eastern Washington in Cheney, Saturday, Jan. 5 at 3 p.m. in Reese Court.
CLICK HERE FOR THIS WEEK'S NOTES (pdf):
HAPPY NEW YEAR: The Montana State women's basketball squad welcomes the New Year with open arms after closing out its 2012 slate losing three of its last four games, including a 57-54 setback to MSU Billings last Saturday afternoon in Worthington Arena. MSU will start its post-Christmas league play at Portland State on Thursday, Jan. 3 at 8:30 p.m. (MST) in the Rose City. The Bobcats will close out the weekend at Eastern Washington in Cheney, Saturday, Jan. 5 at 3 p.m. in Reese Court.
ON THE AIR: Montana State women's basketball games can be heard on KMMS 1450 AM. Should a conflict occur with Bobcat men's basketball, the women's broadcast will be moved back to its original flagship at My 103.5 FM. First-year play-by-play man Adam Seidel will begin his broadcast 15-minutes prior to tip. NOTE: Thursday's game at Portland State will be carried live on KZMY 103.5 FM.
QUICK RECAP: Montana State Billings rallied from an 11-point deficit with 7:44 remaining to defeat Montana State 57-54, Saturday afternoon. Montana State imploded down the stretch converting just one-of-nine field goal attempts, while committing four turnovers. MSU Billings took advantage of MSU's poor shooting connecting on seven-of-13 over the same span. MSU was paced by Latisha Adams and Rachel Semansky with 11 points each. Semansky notched her 20th career double-double, adding a game-high 10 rebounds.
ISN'T SHE GRAND? Bobcat senior Rachel Semansky became the 18th member of Montana State's 1000-point club in MSU's win over Clemson. The pride of Highwood now has 1,112 career points, which 15th on the all-time list. In addition, Semansky went over the 700 rebound plateau against SMU. Last Saturday, she pulled down ten rebounds against MSU Billings to move into 4th on MSU's all-time list. Currently, she is second on the team, averaging 12.9 points per game, while leading the Bobcats under the boards pulling down 7.0 rebounds per outing. Semansky is shooting a team-best 57 percent from the field, which leads the Big Sky Conference. The 6-foot forward has led the league shooting from the field the past two seasons. Semansky posted her 20th career double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds against MSU Billings.
THE NAME GAME: Ashley Brumwell, the player formerly known as Ashley Albert, posted her first double-double of the season and the third of her career with 14 points and 10 rebounds in MSU's win over Utah State. On the season, she is averaging 10.4 points and is second on the squad hauling down 5.6 rebounds per game. Brumwell, who is the sister-in-law of Bobcat men's basketball player Blake Brumwell, has been in double-figure scoring on five occasions this season and posted a career-high 23 points, connecting on 10-of-19 from the field, in MSU's loss to Wyoming on Dec. 8.
OUR VERY OWN VIOLET BEAUREGARDE: A native of Miles City, sophomore Kalli Durham has played a major role in MSU's early season successes. Durham, who comes from a strong Bobcat basketball lineage - grandfather Linn, uncle Mick, cousin Casey and current teammate and cousin Shayla Mack - leads MSU and is sixth in the Big Sky averaging 13.8 points per game. In eight starts, Durham has been in double-digits six times, including a career-best 23 points in Montana State's win over Clemson at the SMU Hoops for a Cure Classic in Dallas, Texas. In addition, she is first on the team with 13 three-point makes. Durham has missed the last three games with a leg injury.
BUELLER..BUELLER..BUELLER: Hailing from Twin Bridges, Montana, a town of 400 people, and located 87 miles west of Bozeman, freshman Peyton Ferris was the queen of Montana Class C basketball last winter. She was named the 2012 Montana Gatorade Girls Basketball Player of the Year. Ferris found herself in a starting role for the Bobcats for four games. She is averaging 2.8 points and 2.7 rebounds per game. Ferris notched a season-best seven points in Montana State's loss to Sacramento State to open the Big Sky season. Last Saturday against MSU Billings, Ferris saw eight minutes of action, dishing out two assists.
GIMME A BREAK: A relentless defender, Bobcat newcomer Rachel Carter has started eight games for the Bobcats. The junior transfer from Foothill College is averaging 3.7 points, 3.3 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.4 steals per game. Carter posted a season-best nine points in MSU's season-opening with at Colorado State. An explosive leaper, Carter pulled down five rebounds and dished out two assists in MSU's loss to MSU Billings. She also tallied two points and a steal against the Yellowjackets.
THE DISH: Serving as one of three tri-captains this season, senior Latisha Adams is back for her final season with the Bobcats. The 5-9 guard from Albuquerque, New Mexico, has played in all eleven games this season, including six starts. She is currently averaging 7.0 points and 3.0 rebounds per game. In addition, Adams is second on the team with 20 assists, averaging 1.8 per contest. She has also connected on four 3-point attempts and has added 13 steals and four blocks. Adams recorded a career-high 16 points as the Bobcats defeated Northern Arizona on Dec. 22 in Worthington Arena. For the game, she connected on seven-of-20 from the field, including two triples. Adams also posted five rebounds, five steals and two assists against the Lumberjacks.
PHONE HOME: Jackie Elliott has played in all 11 games, including seven starts and five consecutives nods heading into this weekend. The 2010-11 Montana Gatorade Soccer Player of the Year is currently averaging 6.4 points and 4.5 rebounds per game. On her last three outings, the Billings Central grad has averaged 8.7 points and 5.7 rebounds per game. She posted a season-high 13 points in MSU's loss to Sacramento State, connecting on 5-of-8 from the field. Elliott is 3rd on the team in rebounding.
TAKING STOCK: Lindsay Stockton, a freshman from Gonzaga Prep in Spokane, Wash., has seen action in all 11 games and is averaging 15.1 minutes per contest. The daughter of NBA Hall of Famer John Stockton and the sister of Gonzaga guard David Stockton, she is making a name for herself in the early going for the Bobcats. The 5-6 guard is averaging 4.9 points, 2.5 rebounds and an assist per game. She recorded a season-high 12 points against UM-Western, connecting on four-of-seven from the field with two 3-pointers. Last Saturday against MSU Billings, she had seven points.
ALL IN THE FAMILY: Freshman Jasmine Hommes is another women's player with a strong lineage to the program. Hommes has two aunts who played for MSU, including Brooke (Hommes) Svendsen, an All-Big Sky player and member of the 1992-93 Montana State team that captured the program's only league tournament title, which led to its only NCAA appearance, and Blythe (Hommes) Hintz, the 1996-97 Big Sky Conference Player of the Year and a Kodak All-America Honorable Mention, who is fifth on MSU's all-time rebounding chart and 10th on the all-time scoring list. Jasmine Hommes has played in all 11 games this season and is averaging 2.8 points and 2.0 rebounds as one of the first post players off the bench. The 6-1 forward from Lynden, Wash., tallied a season-best 12 points vs. UM-Western on five-of-seven from the floor.
THUNDER FROM DOWN UNDER: Junior Emily Allen, a 6-foot forward from Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, has played in all 11 games and is averaging 12.4 minutes per outing. She is currently averaging 2.3 points and 3.4 rebounds, while shooting 33 percent from the field. Allen posted six points in MSU's loss to MSU Billings and hauled down six rebounds against Northern Arizona. Against North Dakota last December, Allen registered a career-high with eight points. She also recorded a career-high 11 rebounds in the victory over UND.
HOMETOWN PROUD: Bozeman high school standout Alexa (Lexi) Dawkins made the short trip down So. 11th to join the Bobcats this season. An all-state selection with the Hawks last winter, Dawkins has played in all 11 games this season, averaging 8.9 minutes, while chipping in 2.5 points and hauling down 2.2 rebounds per contest. In MSU's win over ACC foe Clemson, Dawkins notched a season-best seven rebounds. The 6-foot-1 forward recorded a season-best eight points against Northern Arizona, and currently leads Montana State at the line shooting 92 percent. She also comes from an athletic family as father Dale Dawkins was on the 1987 U of Miami national championship football squad and went on to the NFL as a wide receiver for the New York Jets.
BIG MACK ATTACK: Shayla Mack is a walk-on from Three Forks, MT and is the cousin of Kalli Durham. She has played in three games. She had 2 pts. vs UM-Western.
HITTING THE BOOKS: For the sixth time in the last seven years, the Montana State women's basketball team ranked among the top 12 in the nation at the NCAA Division I level for combined grade-point average inclusive of all student-athletes on its rosters for the 2011-12 season. The Bobcats finished 11th overall with a combined 3.456 grade-point average. MSU was the highest ranked Big Sky team from last winter. Northern Colorado (12), Montana (17) and Eastern Washington (25) also ranked in the top 25.
IT'S ALL ACADEMIC: Montana State senior standout Rachel Semansky earned Capital One Academic All-America Second-Team honors, the nation's highest academic accolade for student-athletes, last winter. Semansky was among fifteen women's basketball players at the NCAA Division I level to achieve the recognition. Semansky sported a 3.95 grade-point average in elementary education. With the honor, Semansky became the first Bobcat women's basketball player to earn the recognition since Evelyn Baldridge in 1985. Baldridge was a third team honoree, while Kathie Roos garnered honorable mention accolades in 1982.
IN A CLASS OF HER OWN: Rachel Semansky is one of 30 female student-athletes who is a candidate for the 2012-13 Senior CLASS Award. To be eligible for the award, a student-athlete must be classified as an NCAA Division I senior and have notable achievements in four areas of excellence - community, classroom, character and competition. Candidates will be narrowed to ten finalists midway through the season. Semansky and Idaho State's Kaela Oakes are the only Big Sky players on the list.
NOTING THE 'CATS: Montana State has posted wins over the Mountain West, Western Athletic (2), Atlantic Coast and Ohio Valley Conferences...balance and depth have been the key to MSU's early-season successes as 11 of 12 players on the roster are averaging 7.9 minutes or more per game. No one averages more the 28.2 minutes per game...Rachel Semansky is 18th in the nation shooting 57 from the floor...The Bobcats rank among the top 50 in the country in rebound margin, currently sitting 44th overall at +7.2 boards per game...Montana State has dropped three of its last four outings without starting guard Kalli Durham in the line-up. The Miles City native is averaging 13.8 points per contest. After sitting three weeks, she is working herself back into the line-up.
Wednesday, January 26
Saturday, December 18
Thursday, November 04
Tuesday, November 02
