Beattie’s Career-High Lifts Bobcats past Spartans

Tuesday, November 22

San Jose, CA

TBA

Montana State University

4-1,0-0Big Sky

San Jose State

1-3,0-0Mountain West

OT 1

Montana St.

San Jose St.

Leia Beattie

Photo by: MSU Creative Services

11/22/2022 10:28:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

By: Tom Schulz

Montana State junior Leia Beattie posted a career-high 27 points, while Grace Beasley 16 and Kola Bad Bear 13 also chipped in double-digits as the Bobcats rallied from a 13-point first half deficit to notch a 74-65 overtime victory over San Jose State on Tuesday night.

Montana State (4-1) held a 17-15 lead after the first quarter, before San Jose State (1-3) opened the second period scoring 15 unanswered points.

Enter Beattie.

With three-minutes remaining in the quarter, the guard from Midland, Texas hit a pair of pull-up jumpers, followed by a Bad Bear layup. Beattie closed out the half with back-to-back three-pointers to whittle the Spartans lead to 30-29 heading into intermission.

"Leia had an outstanding night," said MSU head coach Tricia Binford. "She took over when we needed her the most and she knocked-down some big shots and got us to within one at halftime."

Freshman Marah Dykstra converted a pair of free throws to give MSU a 36-34 lead at the 6:24 mark of the third quarter, but SJSU rattled off an 8-2 run to take a 42-37 advantage with 3:08 left in the frame. Once again, the Bobcats responded, closing out the stanza on a 10-3 run with Beasley's two free throws giving MSU a 47-45 lead heading into the final quarter.

"I really liked our resilience," Binford said. "We were attack-minded and got to the rim. It was an ugly game, but we played with a lot of grit and found a way to win."

Both teams traded points to open the final quarter and Beasley's layup with 4:26 left gave the Bobcats a 58-53 margin. The Spartans closed out the game on an 8-3 run and neither team could convert in the final minute forcing an extra period.

San Jose State held an early 65-63 lead at the 4:16 mark of overtime, but it would be the last time the Spartans would see the scoreboard as MSU closed out the night on an 11-0 run as five different Bobcats scored.

For the game, MSU shot 37.5% from the field, connected on six-of-23 from long distance, and converted 20-of-25 from the line. The Bobcats forced San Jose State into 23 turnovers. The Spartans shot 35.3% from the field and were 10-of-14 at the line.

MSU held a slim 44-43 advantage under the boards as Darian White and Dykstra paced the Bobcats with ten and seven rebounds, respectively.

Montana State will travel to Denton, Texas, for the North Texas Thanksgiving Tournament. The Bobcats will face Abilene Christian on Friday, before taking on the Mean Green on Sunday afternoon.