Sac State downs MSU women

[Colter_Nuanez]

STUNG AGAIN: Hornets get past MSU women in Bozeman
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[BelgradeBobcat]

Missing Durham-who's out with a hurt leg didn't help, and their 6'4" center neutralized Semansky-but they blew it plain and simple. They got conned into playing Sac State's style and they missed too many free throws down the stretch. Coach lost confidence in the bench and barely subsitituted in the second half. They looked gassed to me. And Sac is a sea level team! But the Fieldhouse, for reasons I can't understand, seems to be the most friendly venue to opposing teams in the country. Neither mens nor women's team has any kind of home court advantage.

[Helcat72]

Yea...just got back from it.....free throws and no Callie Durham. We had no three point threat although we did did hit like two of about 5 of them Peyton ferris at the halftime buzzer, and Tish Adams about 3/4 of the way through the 2nd half that put us ahead by 5 at the time) and Sac got 6...but the dagger was by their little short stalky guard #22 from about 25' to put them up by 4 with about a minute left. The 6'4" girl really put the clamps on Semansky even though she scored about 13 points...she was gassed at the end and that's why she missed free throws. I think Binford really did limit her substitutions. Maybe substituting for Semansky more would have helped because she missed a few bunnies and free throws. If the other team has a stopper in the middle and some three point shooters...we need to have some depth in the middle and at least Durham who is our best scorer/shooter.

Other than that they played a pretty good game...out rebounded Sac and played pretty well against the press...I was waiting for Sac to get tired but they didn't because they substituted freely. Actually the fast pace is the Bobcats' style too, but they beat us with three point shooting and guard play.

[CatBlitz]

[aucat]

OK, let's take a look at the pre-season coach's poll: THen I'll make some comments.

Coaches Poll

1. Idaho State - 97 (8)

2. Northern Colorado - 88 (1)

3. Montana - 77 (2)

4. Montana State - 72

5. Portland State - 63

6. North Dakota - 53

7. Sacramento State - 50

8. Eastern Washington - 40

9. Northern Arizona - 28

10. Weber State - 17

11. Southern Utah - 13

The game last night was extremely disappointing. Sac State out shot us, out hustled us, out played us and they out-coached us. They were the better team. Funny, but I guess the coachs didn't get it right on the above pre-season poll. Rachel played hard, but you can't coach height. When you are 6 ft and you constantly try to take it to the hole against a 6'4" post, you are going to get your lunch eaten, and that is just what happened.

What home court advantage? Sac State comes into OUR house and goes 11 for 14 from the charity stripe. We shoot 10 for 19. HUH? I think Manhattan High shoots better than that! What is going on?

Sadly, we really miss Kati Bussy even more than I thought we would. Sac State had some players who could nail 3 pointers when open (and by the way, did you see just how open they got??), and we don't have any 3 point shooters with Kalli Durham out. Ashley is normally a great player, but her shots were WAY off last night. I think it had something to do with Sac State's defense. When we had the ball, I seldom saw much space for open shots. On the other hand, I saw their players get wide open for 3s, as well as simply taking it straight into the lane for layups. No one stepped in front of them.

I still have a problem with Coach Binford's strategy. We get off to a 10-0 start. The team is on fire and we have them on the ropes. Then with less than 4 minutes played she makes substitutions and most notably takes out Rachel. On the NEXT possession, Rachel's sub misses a wide open layup.

I just feel like we should have a core of the 5 BEST players on the court, and sure, you make substitutions, but I'm sorry, when you take a Rachel out and replace her with a freshman there is going to be a dropoff. Does Rachel really need a rest after 3 1/2 minutes?? I don't get it.

Oh well, according to the above poll, NAU was preseason #9, but they took UM into OT last night. If we play on Sat like we did last night, NAU will also find comfort on our home court.

If you are going to EVER SERIOUSLY CONTEND for the BSC title, you simply cannot lose conference games at home. The girls didn't seem to play with much passion, but when you are getting whipped, sometimes you tend to get demoralized. I hope I see a different team on Saturday. I really expected a good season this year.

[aucat]

"Undisclosed leg injury?" "Our for three to four weeks." That's a killer. Since when is a leg injury "undisclosed?" She seemed to be walking into the dressing room just fine.

Someone else is really going to have to step up.

Nice article, Coulter. You are the best.

[Colter_Nuanez]

"Undisclosed leg injury?" "Our for three to four weeks." That's a killer. Since when is a leg injury "undisclosed?" She seemed to be walking into the dressing room just fine.

Someone else is really going to have to step up.

Nice article, Coulter. You are the best.

MSU sports info couldn't disclose the injury because they weren't sure if she signed her HIPPA thing or not. I will find out on Saturday what the deal is and how long she's out for. Sounds like an injury they just found out about the day before the game. She was practicing when I was down there on Wednesday doing interviews...