BOZEMAN, Mont. - Trailing 54-31 with thirteen minutes remaining in the game, North Dakota (6-6) used a 15-2 run to pull within 10 points of Montana State (8-4) - the closest it had been to the Bobcats since late in the opening half. With the help of six straight free throws from Emily Allen, MSU responded with an 8-2 run to take back the momentum and hold on for the 70-54 win.
"I give our players credit for coming back," head coach Gene Roebuck said. "They were dead in the water for about 30 minutes and then after that, they didn't give up. Some teams get down by 18 points, and then before you know it, they are down by 30 points. I give our team a lot of credit for having the courage to fight it out to the end."
With 10 points on 4-for-9 shooting from the field, including a pair of three-pointers, junior guard Carly Rothfusz (Eden Prairie, Minn.) led the way for UND. Redshirt freshman guard Siri Burck (Fargo, N.D.) finished with a career-high seven points and senior guard Charnise Mothershed (Phoenix, Ariz.) and redshirt freshman center Emily Evers (Grand Forks, N.D.) scored six points apiece.
For the 10th straight game, sophomore forward Madi Buck led North Dakota on the boards. The Bismarck, N.D., native pulled down eight rebounds (all defensive).
The Bobcats were led by Rachel Semansky, who shot 8-for-15 from the field and 1-for-1 at the free throw line to finish with 19 points. Katie Bussey added 14 and Ashley Albert came away with 11.
North Dakota shot 31.5 percent (17-for-54) from the field, 42.1 percent (8-for-19) from three-point range, and 52.2 percent (12-for-23) at the free throw line. Montana State finished 26-for-61 from the field (42.6 percent), 6-for-15 (40 percent) beyond the arc, and 12-for-15 (80 percent) at the free throw line.
The Bobcats won the rebounding battle 43-35 and converted UND's 21 turnovers into 16 points.
UND opened with a 6-4 lead as junior guard Nicole Smart (Ada, Minn.) and Charnise Mothershed both dialed in from distance to get UND off to a good start. Semansky fired back with a three-pointer of her own, but Rothfusz answered with a layup on the opposite end to regain the lead for UND. It would prove to be North Dakota's final advantage of the night as a layup by Semansky at 14:35 opened an 18-9 run for the Bobcats to give them the 25-16 lead as the game hit the its second media timeout (7:39).
"We came out playing flat," Roebuck said. "They came out and shot well and we shot very badly. Emotionally, we didn't have it today."
Through the ensuing seven and a half minutes, the Bobcats held UND to just seven points while posting 14 of their own. At the half, UND trailed the Bobcats 39-23.
With a fresh 20 minutes on the clock, Montana State continued to hold the advantage, and by the 17:26 mark, it had built up a 20-point lead (45-25). Three minutes later, Albert dropped in an easy layup to give the Bobcats the 23-point advantage - their largest lead of the game.
Trailing 31-54, true freshman guard Brianna Williams' (Minneapolis, Minn.) trip to the free throw line sparked a 15-2 clip for North Dakota - their largest run of the night - to pull UND to within 10 points with 7:02 on the clock. The run was highlighted by back-to-back three-pointers by Rothfusz.
However, with UND close on its heels (56-46), Montana State used six straight points from the charity stripe to thwart off a comeback and hold on for the win.
"We battled, but then they made it to the free throw line and made their shots," Roebuck said. "That didn't lose the game. What lost the game was our inefficiency to play at a higher level to start things off."
North Dakota is back in action next week when it travels to Missoula, Mont., and for the Lady Griz Holiday Classic. UND will face Idaho on Dec. 29 (6 p.m.) and host Montana on Dec. 30 (8 p.m.).
