BOZEMAN, Mont. - Nov. 27 - Southern Utah women's basketball opened the Bobcat Basketball Classic with a 62-43 loss to the host Montana State Bobcats on Friday night, dropping to 0-5 on the year. The Thunderbirds were able to out rebound MSU 43-40, but were done in by poor shooting and turnovers as the Bobcats moved to 4-1 with the victory.
Montana State began the first half with a 13-1 run over the opening four minutes of the game to take an early lead. The Thunderbirds trimmed the lead to single digits on a Cassie Burgess 3-pointer (15-6) and a Challis Pasucci free throw (17-8), but nine would be as close as SUU would come during the first 20 minutes of the game. MSU scored its final points of the half at the 2:30 minute mark, but the layup was answered with a pair of free throws by Burgess to set the score at 29-16 going into the intermission.
Southern Utah had the score to within 12 on three occasions as the second half opened with Stephanie Sampson, Pascucci and Caitlyn Sears each turning in points to trim the lead. Sears appeared in her first regular season game of the year, coming back from an ankle injury to record 14 minutes during the game. With the score set a 35-23 following a Sears' layup, Montana State put together a game-sealing run of 17-5 to build a lead of 54-28 midway through the second half.
The margin grew to 28 (60-32) with six minutes to play, but the Thunderbirds continued to fight and pulled the game back into the teens as Dani Hosking's free throw with 31 seconds to play led to the final score of 62-43.
Burgess led the Thunderbirds with 12 points during the night as Montana State's Sarah Strand led all players with 17 points and 11 rebounds. Southern Utah's 23 turnovers during the game led to 26 points for the Bobcats with the T-Birds also struggling to find their rhythm on the floor, shooting 29.4 percent for the game.
SUU will wrap up its Thanksgiving tournament with the first of two meetings with the Utah Valley Wolverines this season. The game comes by way of an opening round loss for the Wolverines, as UVU fell 72-59 to the Winthrop Eagles. Tip-off for that game is scheduled for 5:05 p.m.
