The Weber State University women’s basketball team fell to the first-place Montana State University Bobcats on Thursday night by the score of 67-37.
The Bobcats got out to a quick start, overpowering the Wildcats in the paint. The Wildcats had a seven-minute scoring drought, whereas the Bobcats went on a 17-0 run.
The Wildcats picked up the intensity midway through the first half, playing full-court press, being more aggressive in attacking the basket and nearly matching points with the Bobcats.
“I was very proud,” said head coach Bethann Ord. “We did a great job with our pressure. I keep telling the girls, ‘continuous effort, continuous effort, it’s gonna break through.’ The effort is there.”
The score at the end of the first half was 38-18 in favor of MSU.
The story in the first half was field goal percentage. The Bobcats shot 53 percent from the field, going 17-32 shooting. The Wildcats shot just 22 percent from the field, going 7-32 shooting, while shooting 1-5 from the 3-point line.
Bobcat sophomore Kalli Durham led all scorers at the half with nine points. Bobcat senior Rachel Semansky led in rebounds with eight. The Bobcats scored eight fast-break points and 13 points off of 10 Wildcat turnovers in the first half. MSU outscored WSU in the paint 18-10. MSU also outscored WSU 7-0 on second-chance points.
Freshman Grace Farnsworth and sophomore Carlee Lough each had four points for the Wildcats in the first half. Lough also pulled down two rebounds in the first half. The Wildcats had four points off turnovers and two fast-break points in the first half.
The Wildcats came out stronger in the second half, playing tougher in the paint and distributing the ball well, but the deficit was too much to overcome. The game ended with a score of 67-37.
Bobcat junior Ashley Brumwell led all scorers with 12 points and 10 rebounds, with Semansky adding 11 points and nine rebounds.
Freshman Regina Okoye led the Wildcats with eight points, while freshman Kalie Matthews added six points and 10 rebounds. The Wildcats ended with six fast-break points, allowing none in the second half.
“That’s a great team right there,” Ord said. “We didn’t hit some easy shots, and we didn’t take some shots. We had some opportunities, and players usually knock them down. The nice thing about basketball is that we’ve got a game Saturday. We don’t have to wait a whole week like football.”
The Wildcats were without leading scorer and rebounder Jalen Carpenter for this game.
“We worked hard in this game,” Matthews said. “We just need to learn how to mesh and work together a little better. We have a lot of talent on this team, if we just put it all together . . . we’re gonna tear it up.”
Thursday’s game was the first of a four-game home stand for the Wildcats. Their next game will be played on Saturday at 2 p.m. in the Dee Events Center against the Grizzlies from the University of Montana.
