GRAND FORKS, N.D. - In its first Big Sky Conference test of the season, North Dakota dropped a close 67-63 decision to Montana State at -the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center.
"At times we played hard, but I just don't think that our focus was near where it should have been," head coach Gene Roebuck said. "We looked tired mentally. This game is a grind and you have to be ready to play 40 minutes. You have to be able to play hard even when you're tired.
"Give Montana State credit. They played hard and hung in there even with some dry spells of their own. But they were able to make the plays they needed down the stretch."
It took over two minutes for the first bucket to drop as North Dakota (4-3) and Montana State (6-3) shot a combined 0-for-6 to open the first half. Junior guard Nicole Smart broke the silence with a jumper at 17:56 to give UND the initial lead, but the Bobcats quickly answered on the other end.
Smart, a native of Ada, Minn., finished with a career-high 19 points on 7-for-12 shooting from the field and a 4-for-5 clip at the free throw line. She also added seven rebounds, two assists and two blocks.
Sophomore forward Madi Buck (Bismarck, N.D.) snapped the 5-5 tie with a three-pointer, but once again, Montana State was there with the answer to tie the score for the second time. With another three to follow and a transition layup from Katie Bussey, MSU took its first lead for the game.
Buck finished with 14 points on 4-for-11 shooting from the field and went 5-for-6 at the free throw line. Bussy led all players with 26 points on 9-for-17 shooting from the field, including a trio of three-pointers, and a 5-for-7 showing at the line.
Buck cut the margin down to four, but then Bussey set out on a 5-0 run of her own to give the visitors a nine-point lead with 12:49 remaining in the half. North Dakota closed the gap with an 8-0 run to trail 14-15 with 10:17 remaining. Sophomore center Allyssa Wall (North Sioux City, S.D.) started the run with a jumper and Buck closed it with a strong layup after stealing the ball from MSU's Latisha Adams at half court.
After MSU broke a 21-21 tie (8:20), UND was penalized with a technical foul as Roebuck, frustrated with a delayed call by officials, stepped out of the coach's box and onto the court. With a pair from the foul line, Bussey gave MSU a 25-21 lead with 7:08 on the clock. UND erased the margin with four straight free throws, and then after breaking another deadlock (27-27), took its first lead since early in the half.
The teams went into the locker-room with UND leading 35-32.
Back out of the break, Buck, Wall, and senior guard Charnay Mothershed (Phoenix, Ariz.) went on a 6-0 run to give North Dakota a nine-point advantage (17:55). Hot on their tail, the Bobcats crept to within one point and then took a 44-43 lead with 14:28 remaining.
UND regained control, but with a free throw by Adams to make it 47-47 (10:03) and a tie-breaking shot from the foul line by Bussey, Montana State found itself back on top.
Midway through minute-seven, North Dakota regained the advantage and held on tight through the next five and a half minutes. However, Bussey spoiled UND's plans to take the lead to the end of the game, hitting her third three-pointer of the afternoon with 2:04 to make it 61-61.
A pair of free throws by Rachel Semansky broke the tie, but the teams were quickly knotted once more (63-63; 00:36) as Smart drained yet another shot. With nine seconds on the clock, Ashley Albert connected for MSU to give the Bobcats the 65-63 lead with just nine seconds remaining.
"You can do one of two things in this situation," Roebuck said. "You can call a timeout and let Montana State set up the defense or you can get down the floor."
UND went for the tie on the other end, but Charnise Mothershed's (Sr., G, Phoenix, Ariz.) shot fell just short.
"We got a wide-open look and couldn't have run a play any better than we did to create it," Roebuck said. "Charnise went for the jumpshot, but on the flipside, she could have gone to the basket and tried to draw the foul.
"I'd do the same thing again. Nine seconds is not a whole lot of time to really set something up, so you have to be a quickhitter."
With another pair of buckets from Albert at the foul line, Montana State went home with the win.
North Dakota shot a season-low 33.3 percent (22-for-66) from the field, 21.4 percent (3-for-14) from three-point range, and 64 percent (16-for-25) at the free throw line. Montana State finished 24-for-73 (32.9 percent) from the field, 6-for-18 (33.3 percent) at three-point range, and 13-for-16 (81.3 percent) at the foul line. UND held a 55-49 rebounding advantage, but allowed the Bobcats to score 13 points on second-chance shots. MSU converted UND's 19 turnovers in to 17 points and held the bench to just nine points.
North Dakota will face Colorado State on Dec. 8 in Fort Collins, Colo. Then on Dec. 10, it will take on Missouri in Columbia, Mo.
- Go Green -
