Lady Griz overcome halftime deficit to beat Cats

Posted: Feb 4, 2012 5:38 PM by Q2 Sports

BOZEMAN - The Montana State women's basketball squad had a chance to blow open the game midway through the second half, but a scoring drought that consumed almost eight minutes let Montana hang around long enough and the Lady Griz used a late three-point barrage to notch a 61-54 win over the Bobcats, Saturday afternoon in front of 3,013 fans.

Leading 38-32 with 15:28 remaining in the game, the Bobcats went cold from the field and didn't convert its next bucket until Chelsea Banis scored on the low blocks. The field-goal still gave Montana State (15-8, 7-3) a four-point cushion, but it also gave Montana (13-9, 6-3) a chance.

Montana's Katie Baker hit a jumper with 5:21 left to give the Lady Griz its first lead of the half and one they would never relinquish as Alyssa Smith and Torry Hill hit from beyond the arc to give UM the margin it needed.

"We had an opportunity midway through the half as both teams struggled making a shot," said MSU head coach Tricia Binford. "It was a frustrating time, but we relied on our defense and kept the lead.

"Then Montana started to get hot and we missed some assignments on defense and that was the difference in the game," Binford said.

Sophomore Ashley Albert paced Montana State with 19 points and 13 rebounds, while Semansky added 13 points and nine rebounds.
Senior Katie Bussey, coming off a record-breaking 41 point performance at Idaho State on Thursday, finished with nine points, four rebounds and four steals.

"I thought Ashley did a nice job stepping up on the offensive end," Binford said. "I also thought we needed to get more touches for Rachel, and we didn't get that done."

For the game, MSU shot just 31 percent from the field, including an icy 28 percent in the second half. Montana finished shooting at a 37 percent clip, including 40 percent in the second stanza.

The Lady Griz also held a 48-42 edge in rebounding

Baker led UM with 19 points and nine rebounds.

Montana State will host Northern Colorado on Thursday night.