BOZEMAN — Rachel Semansky found her lunch pail at halftime and went to work in the second half, recording 16 points and ten rebounds in the final 20-minutes to lift Montana State to a 65-55 win over Tennessee State, Monday night in Worthington Arena.

The Highwood native finished with 20 points and 16 rebounds for her 19th career double-double.

“We certainly don’t make it easy on ourselves,” said MSU head coach Tricia Binford. “But fortunately, we find a way. When it came crunch time we knocked down our free throws, and what can you say about Rachel’s performance?”

The game featured ten lead changes. Tennessee State (3-5) built a six-point advantage with 4:34 left in the opening stanza, before Montana State (6-1) answered an 8-3 run to close to within 29-28 at intermission.

In the second stanza, the Bobcats pulled away at 49-all with 6:53 remaining behind a 16-1 run over the next five minutes to take its largest lead of the game at 65-50 with one-minute left. The Montana State run was sparked by Semansky’s six points and four rebounds.

Also hitting double-digits for the Bobcats was Kalli Durham with 15 points.

For the game, MSU shot 40 percent from the field and connected on 18-of-27 free throws, including a six-of-six performance from Semansky in the final four minutes.

The Bobcats held a sizeable 46-32 advantage under the boards as five Bobcats contributed three or more rebounds. Ashley Brumwell dished out a game-high five assists, while Jackie Elliott added four.

“At halftime we talked about being tougher and stronger with the ball,” Binford said. “In the second half we did a nice job in transition and with our post touches.”

Tennessee State was paced by Jasmine Shuler with 15 points.

The Bobcats will host Wyoming on Saturday at 2 p.m., in Worthington Arena.

 — MSU Sports Information