Box Score
RENO, Nev. (March 10, 2017) – The Montana State Bobcats are one step away from erasing 23 years of frustration.
Sophomore Annika Lai hit the winning shot with 3 seconds to play to lift Montana State over Eastern Washington 61-59 in the semifinals of the Big Sky Conference women’s basketball tournament Friday afternoon at the Reno Events Center.
The top-seeded Bobcats, who tied the school record with their 24th win of the season, will face the winner of the Portland State-Idaho State semifinal in Saturday’s championship game at 12:05 p.m. PST. The winner receives the league’s automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament. Fourth-seeded Eastern Washington concluded the tournament with a record of 18-13.
The Bobcats (24-6) have appeared in the NCAA Tournament just once in school history, that coming in 1993. It’s the first time since 2010 that the Bobcats have reached the title game.
Lai, a 6-foot-1 forward from Boulder, Colorado, matched her career high with 15 points, hitting 7 of 11 shots from the field. Senior Peyton Ferris from Twin Bridges, Montana, overcame early foul trouble to lead the Bobcats with 16 points and snared 11 rebounds. Senior Riley Nordgaard also registered a double-double with 11 points and 13 rebounds.
It looked like another missed opportunity for the Bobcats late in the third quarter when Delaney Hodgins nailed her fourth 3-pointer of the game to give the Eagles a seven-point lead, 45-38. Hodgins led the Eagles with 18 points.
But the Bobcats put together a 9-0 run that spanned the end of the third quarter and the start of the fourth to take a 47-45 lead with 7:37 to play. Nordgaard had five of those points and Lai had the other four.
The teams traded leads until another trey by Hodgins tied the score at 59-59 with 29.9 seconds remaining.
The Bobcats called a timeout, then played for the final shot. Lai got the ball near the free-throw line and took a couple of dribbles down the left side of the lane before putting the shot up off the glass with 3.0 seconds to play.
The Eagles were able to get one last shot off, but Tisha Phillips’ 18-footer was off the mark. Phillips finished with 11 points, nine rebounds and seven assists.