Ladyjacks Come Up Just Short in Bid to Snap Bobcats Winning Streak, 59-54

Saturday, December 9

Bozeman, Montana

4:30 p.m.

Stephen F. Austin

6-3

Montana State

6-4

OT 1

Stephen F. Austin

Montana State

Ladyjacks Come Up Just Short in Bid to Snap Bobcats Winning Streak, 59-54

12/9/2017 8:56:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

SFA gets out rebounded 48-42 in loss

By: Kevin Meyer | Assistant Director of Athletic Media Relations

BOZEMAN, MT – A second slow start in as many games for the Stephen F. Austin women's basketball team seemed destined to lead to yet another tally in Montana State's 28-game home winning streak on Saturday afternoon. Determined to deny that moment, the Ladyjacks powered back into the mix with a resurgent second quarter and would challenged the Bobcats into an overtime period before falling in a valiant effort at Worthington Arena, 59-54. SFA drops to 6-3 with the loss, and 0-3 on the road.

Unfazed by a numerous but otherwise docile Montana State crowd of 1,371, the Ladyjacks battled past an anemic opening quarter and held a late lead before Montana State tied the game to send it into an overtime period. The Bobcats would outscore the 'Jacks 12-7 in the overtime period, including back-to-back triples to open the decisive frame. Stevi Parker, Chanell Hayes and Imani Johnson led the 'Jacks with nine points apiece, while Kia Fisker had seven points off the bench in 11 minutes.

During a slow start to the game in which the 'Jacks fell behind 14-9 in the first quarter, the team seem mired in the same lethargic mindset that they opened the Montana game with. Shaking off the rust, the Ladyjacks would claw back into the game in brilliant fashion, going on a pair of significant runs in the second quarter to erase the deficit and take the lead into the halftime break. A 7-0 run from the nine minute mark in the second quarter spanned nearly three minutes and turned a 17-9 deficit into a 17-16 deficit, but the 'Jacks were just getting started in the quarter. Clamping down on the defensive end, the 'Jacks held Montana State to just 1-10 on field goals to close out the quarter, all while SFA tallied 10 points in the closing minutes to take a 26-23 lead into the halftime break.

In the third, the game held much more of a close and competitive feel, with the Bobcats carving out just enough of a scoring advantage to tie the game heading into the fourth quarter. A total of five ties would elapse in the third frame, with the Ladyjacks tying it at 36-36 on a layup by Kia Fisker with 48 ticks left on the clock and set the scene for a climactic fourth quarter.

SFA would start the fourth off in great fashion, as Riley Harvey scored her first bucket of the contest off the assist by Fisker to give SFA a narrow lead. MSU quickly responded with a 6-0 run, started off by a pair of free throw attempts. After the first attempt was hit, the rebound on the second free throw was corralled by the Bobcats and led to a three-pointer by Oliana Squires, one of six she would hit in the contest. A follow up jumper by MSU pushed them out to a 42-38 lead. Later in the quarter, Parker would tie the game with a layup at the 4:54 mark, followed by a layup by Johnson to push SFA ahead with 3:10 remaining.

That lead would not last, however, as Squires sank a deep ball to put MSU back on top with 1:48 remaining. A pair of free throws by Hayes on the next trip down the floor put SFA back up by one, and a split at the line by Jackson with 47 seconds left gave SFA a 47-45 lead. Unfazed, Squires went right back at SFA on the other end and drew a foul, with her pair of makes at the line tying the game up at 47-47. There, with 24 seconds left, SFA was ready to hold for the final shot to win the contest, only to have an official step in and call a travel with 10 seconds left, a potentially catastrophic made only slightly better by the resulting Bobcats miss at the buzzer on the other end.

Heading to an overtime period, the 'Jacks could feel confident in the result they earned just about two weeks ago on November 25^th, an 83-79 win over Alcorn State. Instead, Squires would hit a triple to open the scoring in the overtime period, and the Bobcats doubled down with another trey with 2:39 left to stake themselves out to a 6-0 lead. SFA would wittle the deficit down to just three on a layup and foul shot from Fisker with 16 seconds left, but MSU was 4-6 from the line from there on out to put away the Ladyjacks.

MSU was led by Squires and her 20 points, which led all scorers. The Bobcats gave up a huge advantage in points in the point to SFA (40-12), but were 9-26 from beyond the arc, with several of those three-pointers in clutch moments. SFA struggled mightily beyond the arc, converting just 1-16 attempts there (6.3 percent), and scoring on 21-60 attempts (35.0 percent) from the field. The teams were nearly even in turnovers (20-19), with MSU holding a slight edge in points off those turnovers (20-17).

-SFA-