Colorado State University Athletics
Colorado State
2-6
Montana
6-2
Rams fall at Montana, 68-53
12/10/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Dec. 10, 2008
By Danny Mattie
Athletic Media Relations
MISSOULA, Mont. – Freshman guard Kim Mestdagh poured in a career-high 20 points, but the Montana Lady Griz pulled away in the second half to push their home win streak to 20 games with the 68-53 victory in front of 3,020 fans at Dahlberg Arena.
Montana opened an early lead behind the three-point shooting of senior guard Mandy Morales who connected three times from long distance in the first 5:30 of the game.
Colorado State answered with some sharpshooting of its own. Mestdagh, Kandy Beemer and Bonnie Barbee accounted for 12 of the Rams first 15 points, all from beyond the arc, and the CSU found themselves down just two points, 17-15, eight minutes into the contest.
The teams traded blows over the next five minutes and following Mestdagh’s third three-pointer of the half, the Rams’ deficit remained just two, 26-24. However, the Lady Griz outscored CSU 14-6 over the final seven minutes of the half to push the lead to double-digits heading into the lockerroom.
The Rams were never able to pull closer than 10 points in the second half. Mestdagh tallied 11 of the team’s 23 points in the final 20 minutes, shooting 4-for-6 in the second half en route to a 20-point, five-rebound night, easily the best of her young career at Colorado State.
“I’m proud of what Kim did tonight,” said Head Coach Kristen Holt. “That was a tremendous effort. We’ve also even seen her step up from a leadership standpoint; she’s out there communicating and talking and that’s a really good thing.”
The rest of the Rams struggled to the tune of 4-for-23 shooting in the second half, and Montana’s lead ballooned to a high mark of 19 points, 66-47, with 2:40 left in the contest, before the Lady Griz closed out the 68-53 victory.
“We had some poor performances from a lot of individuals tonight,” added Holt. “You just can’t have that many people perform like that.”
Morales was held to just four points in the second half, but narrowly missed a triple-double performance. She finished with team highs of 16 points, nine rebounds and eight assists in 37 minutes of action.
The Rams recorded just two offensive rebounds in the first half and trailed Montana 19-14 in total rebounds at the intermission, but CSU improved its rebounding significantly in the second half. CSU finished the game with 14 offensive rebounds, half coming from Amaka Uzomah (4) and Chatilla van Grinsven (3), and outrebounded UM 42-36 overall. Uzomah finished with a team-most eight rebounds, followed by van Grinsven’s six boards.
“We weren’t very good on the boards in the first half and I challenged the team in the second half to try to get 15 offensive rebounds, which we finished one short of,” said Holt. “We’re second in the conference in rebounding and if we want to be in any games, we have to rebound.”
Sophomore guard Bonnie Barbee finished with eight points for the Rams, all in the first half, while Beemer and Britney Minor Each added six points.
The Rams, having shot 44 percent (11-for-25) in the first half, ended the game shooting a 31.5 percent clip. Montana connected on 39.3 percent for the game and used a 20-10 scoring advantage in the paint to finish off the Rams.
Next up, the Rams return to Moby Arena to face the University of Northern Iowa. The Rams and the Panthers are slated to tip off at noon on Sunday from Moby Arena. Fans 18 and under will receive $1 admission to the game.
