CSUB women fall short in opener
Last Updated Friday, Nov 13 2009 07:56 PM
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Casey Christie / The Californian CSUB's Kelley Tarver drives against Montana State's Katie Bussey, Friday, at the Rabobank Arena during CSUB women's basketball official season opener.
Casey Christie / The Californian Cal State Bakersfield's Phynique Allen goes for the basket, Friday, at the Rabobank Arena against Montana State's Janette Jackson, during CSUB women's basketball official season opener.
Casey Christie / The Californian Montana State's Lyndi Seidensticker, left, and Sarah Strand, right, come in tight on Cal State's Kelley Tarver, Friday, at the Rabobank Arena during game action.
Casey Christie / The Californian Montana State's Ashley Albert, comes from behind on defense, as CSUB's Katie Williams takes a shot underneath, Friday, during CSUB women's first season game.
Casey Christie / The Californian Cal State's Phynique Allen takes the ball to the hoop while Montana State's Katie Bussey, left, tries to stop her during Friday night game action at the Rabobank Arena.
One thing is obvious as Cal State Bakersfield continues its march toward full NCAA Division I status: If you play poorly, you probably won't win.
The Roadrunners opened their women's basketball season with a poor shooting night. Montana State withstood a furious final 30-second rally to hold off CSUB 78-76 at Rabobank Arena on Friday night.
CSUB trailed 78-71 with 25.7 seconds left after Montana State's Erica Perry sank two free throws. A three-point play by Katie Williams, a Williams steal and pass inside to Amber Williams for a layup made it 78-76.
And when the Bobcats turned the ball over with 1.5 seconds left, CSUB had a chance.
But Phynique Allen's 15-foot jumper from the free throw line bounced off the rim as the buzzer sounded.
"We got the shot we wanted," said CSUB coach Tim La Kose, who said the preferred option was getting the ball into Katie Williams' hands, but the Bobcats' defense prevented it.
Allen was the next option. She took the ball near the 3-point line, dribbled once and shot. "Either one: shoot or dribble and shoot," La Kose said of the last play.
La Kose said the difference in the game was CSUB's slow start. After taking a 4-0 lead with just over a minute played, the Roadrunners allowed 12 straight points. CSUB didn't score over a 5:03 stretch, going 0-for-7 with four turnovers.
"I think our shaky start cost us the game," La Kose said. "We got some nice looks. We took 17 more shots than they did, but they hit more of their shots."
CSUB did manage to tie the game twice, at 55 and 57. After it was 57-57, the Roadrunners had four possessions with a chance to take the first lead but Bakersfield missed all four shots.
Katie Williams had a game-high 22 points for CSUB but struggled from the field, hitting only 9-of-28 shots. She started 4-of-17. Tamiko Davis added 16 points and eight rebounds in her CSUB debut.
Montana State, 15-15 last year and 8-8 in the Big Sky Conference, had 19 points by forward Sarah Strand, with 10 of those coming in the final 8:37. Point guard Katie Bussey added 18 points.
CSUB hosts Miami (Fla.) at 2 p.m. Sunday in the Icardo Center.
