Edinburg, Texas ? Nubia Garcia scored 22 points and grabbed nine boards and Erica Perry netted 19 points to propel Montana State past the University at Albany women's basketball team, 75-71, in the consolation game of the Battle at the Border Tournament on Monday evening. UAlbany, which held a 45-41 advantage at halftime, suffered its third straight loss and fifth overall when leading after the first 20 minutes of action.
In a game which featured seven ties and 10 lead changes, Montana State (6-6) went ahead 73-71 when Anne Phippard took advantage of Garcia's offensive rebound by hitting a seven-foot jumper with 39.5 seconds remaining.
Ashley Lindsay, who finished with a career-high eight points, attempted to tie the game with 19 seconds left. However, her layup through traffic missed and landed in the hands of the Bobcats. UAlbany was forced to foul, and Sarah Strand canned both of her free throws to seal the four-point win.
“It is almost like we are walking on ice, and we have an apprehension to take that extra step,” said head coach Trina Patterson. “We have to get to a point where we are not afraid. We play well enough, but not well enough to win. However, I was very proud of our effort in this game.”
After the teams traded baskets for the opening five minutes, Montana State rattled off five straight points to take an 18-8 lead with 12:54 left in the half. The Great Danes then answered with a 5-0 run of their own to pull within five. Britney McGee canned her first of six trifectas in the game, setting a career high, and Amira Ford followed up by converting two free throws.
Trailing 25-16, UAlbany (1-11) scored six straight points to make it a one-possession game which forced Montana State to call a timeout at 9:22. After Jenny Heringer hit a jumper to put the Bobcats ahead by five, Tiffanie Johnson scored five straight points to tie the game at 27-27 by completing a conventional three-point play and hitting a short jumper and making a layup.
Facing a 35-31 deficit, UAlbany scored eight unanswered points to take their first lead of the game since McGee nailed a three pointer on the Great Danes' first possession. Janea Aiken's layup put UAlbany ahead 36-35, and McGee followed that up with her fourth three-point field goal to give UAlbany a 39-35 advantage with 2:21 left in the half. A layup by Johnson, who netted 14 points, gave the Great Danes their largest lead of the half at 45-37 before the Bobcats closed out the stanza with four straight points.
Trailing 45-41 at the break, Montana State scored the first nine points of the second half to go ahead by a score of 50-45. Using a pick set by Lindsay, a layup by Ford, who scored a career-best 11 points, ended the Bobcats' 13-0 run dating back to the first half. Janea Aiken tied the score up at 50-50 with a three-point field goal, and two free throws by Tabitha Makopondo allowed the Great Danes to regain the lead by two.
Another seesaw battle ensued, and it was the Great Danes that broke a 59-59 deadlock by embarking on a 9-4 run. McGee set a career high for points (20) when she made a three pointer during the stretch. However, the Bobcats were able to score 12 of the next 15 points and the final six of the game in the last two minutes to earn their sixth victory.
“We still need to find a way to pull out some wins,” said McGee, who was named to the all-tournament team after Troy defeated Texas-Pan American in the championship game by a 54-39 score. “I think that having me play on the wing, having Amira start at point guard and keeping Janea where she is over the past three games has been a good move by our coaching staff. That's a pretty dominant back court. However, we have to pull it together because conference play is about to start. Hopefully we can get a win at Rhode Island.”
UAlbany will wrap up non-conference action when it visits the Rams for a 12 p.m. contest on Saturday, Jan. 3.
Battle at the Border Tournament Finish
Champions - Troy (2-0)
Second - Texas-Pan American (1-1)
Third - Montana State (1-1)
Fourth - UAlbany (0-2)
All-Tournament Team
Kylie Morrissy - Troy (MVP)
Erica Perry - Montana State
Britney McGee - UAlbany
Donette McNair - Troy
Epiphany Smith - Texas-Pan American
Larelle Roeper - Troy
Montana State 75, UAlbany 71 (12/29/08 at Edinburg, Texas - UTPA Fieldhouse)Official Basketball Box Score
Official Basketball Box Score
Montana State vs UAlbany
12/29/08 5:00 p.m. at Edinburg, Texas - UTPA Fieldhouse
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VISITORS: Montana State 6-6
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
01 PERRY, Erica........ * 6-9 4-4 3-4 0 2 2 3 19 3 0 0 0 29
03 PHIPPARD, Anne...... * 2-5 1-3 1-2 1 1 2 3 6 2 1 0 0 21
12 HERINGER, Jenny..... * 2-5 0-2 0-0 3 1 4 1 4 2 2 0 1 28
20 STRAND, Sarah....... * 1-5 1-3 2-2 1 2 3 0 5 5 0 0 1 18
30 GARCIA, Nubia....... * 9-14 0-0 4-6 4 5 9 2 22 2 7 1 1 39
10 BUSSEY, Katie....... 3-8 0-1 0-1 0 0 0 0 6 2 1 0 0 19
21 SEIDENSTICKER, Lyndi 4-8 1-2 0-0 0 2 2 3 9 0 1 1 1 21
24 PAULI, Rachel....... 0-2 0-0 0-0 2 2 4 1 0 4 1 0 0 17
33 HOEFER, Mara........ 2-3 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 0 4 0 0 0 1 8
Team................ 3 4 7 1
Totals.............. 29-59 7-15 10-15 14 20 34 13 75 20 14 2 5 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 18-33 54.5% 2nd Half: 11-26 42.3% Game: 49.2% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 4-7 57.1% 2nd Half: 3-8 37.5% Game: 46.7% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 1-3 33.3% 2nd Half: 9-12 75.0% Game: 66.7% 1
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HOME TEAM: UAlbany 1-11
TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS
## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN
01 Ford, Amira......... * 4-4 0-0 3-4 1 3 4 2 11 2 0 0 3 35
02 McGee, Britney...... * 7-17 6-10 0-1 1 4 5 1 20 3 3 0 2 36
10 Aiken, Janea........ * 4-7 1-1 3-4 0 3 3 1 12 4 6 0 0 39
30 Johnson, Tiffanie... * 6-12 0-2 2-2 3 3 6 5 14 3 1 0 0 31
33 Makopondo, Tabitha.. * 2-6 0-0 2-2 1 1 2 2 6 0 1 0 1 16
03 Lindsay, Ashley..... 4-8 0-0 0-0 1 2 3 2 8 0 1 0 0 30
14 Clements, Kim....... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3
24 Jones, Adrienne..... 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 2 0 2 0 0 0 10
TEAM................ 4 3 7 1
Totals.............. 27-56 7-13 10-13 11 20 31 15 71 14 13 0 6 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 17-27 63.0% 2nd Half: 10-29 34.5% Game: 48.2% DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 5-6 83.3% 2nd Half: 2-7 28.6% Game: 53.8% REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 6-7 85.7% 2nd Half: 4-6 66.7% Game: 76.9% 1
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Officials: Jeff Rousseau, Rolando Ramirez, Alberto Ruiz
Technical fouls: Montana State-None. UAlbany-None.
Attendance: 225
Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total
Montana State................. 41 34 - 75
UAlbany....................... 45 26 - 71
Battle at the Border Game 3
Points in the paint-MSU 38,ALBANY 34. Points off turnovers-MSU 12,ALBANY 12.
2nd chance points-MSU 22,ALBANY 14. Fast break points-MSU 4,ALBANY 8.
Bench points-MSU 19,ALBANY 8. Score tied-7 times. Lead changed-10 times.
Last FG-MSU 2nd-00:42, ALBANY 2nd-03:00.
Largest lead-MSU by 10 1st-12:56, ALBANY by 8 1st-00:55.
