BOZEMAN — Eighth-year head coach Tricia Binford saw pretty much what she expected to see as the Montana State women’s basketball team open its 2012-13 campaign with an 83-50 exhibition win over Montana Tech, Monday night in Worthington Arena.
“We have a lot to work on,” Binford said. “Defensively, we still have plenty of areas that need fixing, especially in transition and with our communication. However, I’m excited that we do have the potential to be a very good defensive squad. I thought both Kalli Durham and Rechel Carter did a nice job.”
MSU held Montana Tech to just 21 percent from the field in the opening period, but let the Orediggers connect on 57 percent in the second stanza. The Bobcats won the battle of the boards, out-rebounding the Orediggers 52-45. Montana State also forced 25 Montana Tech turnovers, while committing just 13 miscues.
Montana State broke away from a six-all tie at the 15:17 mark of the first half with an 11-0 run and expanded the margin to 43-16 halftime. The run was sparked by balanced scoring, including back-to-back buckets by freshman Jasmine Hommes.
In the second half, the Bobcats took its largest advantage at 83-44 with 2:46 remaining on an old-fashion three-point play via Hommes.
Four Bobcat players reached double-figure scoring, including Rachel Semansky 16, Hommes 13, Ashley Brumwell 11 and Durham 10. Under the boards, Brumwell notched a game-high nine rebounds, while Semansky and Durham had seven boards, apiece.
Also contributing to the Bobcats attack was Emily Allen with six rebounds, four assists, three steals and two blocks, while Durham added a game-high six steals to go with three assists.
“I was pleased with Rachel and Ashley and thought they got us off to a great start,” Binford said. “The freshmen did a nice job settling into their first real-game experience and Jasmine really did a nice job being tough and producing down low.
“We’ll dissect the video and see where we can get better,” Binford added. “We still need to look at what spots we have the kids in and our rotations. In all, this was a good start to the season, and we can only continue to get better.”
Montana Tech was led by Laini Kalumbi with 16 points and eight rebounds.
— MSU Sports Information
