The Wildcats extended their losing streak against Montana State to 16 games Saturday as the Bobcats held on to an early lead to win 62-54.

“We had a slow start,” Head Coach Bethann Ord said. “We weren’t as aggressive as we always are in the first half and we’ve got to step that up in the next few games.”

The Wildcats shot only 11-for-26 from the field in the first half and were only 1-for-6 from three-point range as they trailed 37-23 at halftime.

“We will be working on our shooting this week in practice,” Ord said. “We are a good team, but we have to get mentally tougher. We have to be confident in our ability to score. We have to do better at the little things because they do matter.”

Coming out of halftime, Weber State went on an 11-0 run to pull within three points. Despite the early scoring—and holding the Bobcats to three baskets through the first eight minutes of the half—the Wildcats were unable to grab the lead from Montana State. The Bobcats then went on an 11-4 run for their first conference win of the season.

The Wildcats and Bobcats put up similar shooting performances on Saturday. Weber State shot 23-for-57 from the field (.404) while Montana State was 24-for-55 (.436). The difference in the game came in the battle for the boards. Montana State out-rebounded Weber State 44-27.

Junior guard Regina Okoye led the Wildcats in the losing effort scoring a team-high 18 points, while pulling down five rebounds. Okoye continued her successful season as she made six more steals to bring her to 66 steals through 15 games. Her six steals against the Bobcats improved her nation-leading, steals-per-game average to 4.4.

The Wildcats (5-10, 0-4 conference) return home to the Dee Events Center this week as they host Northern Arizona (6-7, 2-0) on Thursday and Southern Utah (8-4, 1-1) on Saturday.