Cat Central

MSU Women Close Regular Season with Win

Posted: Mar 9, 2013 6:05 PM by Ted Dawson

Senior Latisha Adams nailed the crucial baskets when her team needed it the most.

The 5-foot-9 guard from Albuquerque, New Mexico finished with a team-high 15 points to pace Montana State to a 68-66 win over Northern Arizona, Saturday afternoon in the regular-season finale` for both squads.

Montana State (17-12, 11-9) rallied from a seven-point first half deficit, cutting the Northern Arizona (8-21, 7-13) advantage to 35-32 at intermission.

MSU opened the second stanza on an 18-6 run as seven different Bobcats scored to spark the Bobcat offense. Montana State held a 50-41 margin with 12:14 remaining following a Peyton Ferris jumper. With just under 10-minutes left, NAU rattled off an 11-2 run to even the game at 56-all.

Tied for the seventh time in the contest at 57-all, Adams connected on a triple in front of the Bobcat bench to give MSU a three-point lead with 2:15 remaining. The Lumberjacks answered with a layup, before Adams converted a running jumper on the next possession to push the MSU margin to three.

NAU cut the Bobcat lead to 63-62 with 1:29 left, but back-to-back baskets via Rachel Semansky secured the win for MSU in the waning moments.

"Tish was a big factor during our big winning streak," said MSU head coach Tricia Binford. "We want the ball in her hands at the end of the game. She did a nice job with her decisions coming down the stretch."

Also in double-figure for MSU were Semansky and Kalli Durham with 12 and 10 points, respectively. The Bobcats also received a lift from its bench as Lindsay Stockton and Chelsea Banis each chipped in eight points. Freshman Jasmine Hommes also had key minutes in the opening period as Semansky was saddled with foul trouble.

"I'm proud with how Jasmine and Chelsea came into the game in the first half and kept us close," Binford said. "It afforded us to get a fresh Rachel in the second half and I thought everyone fed off her energy. We created some turnovers and gained end-of-game experience heading into the tournament."

For the game, MSU shot 44 percent from the field, while holding Northern Arizona to 39 percent in the second half. NAU held a 40-36 advantage under the glass. The Bobcats were led under the boards by Emily Allen and Semansky with eight and seven rebounds, respectively.