Lady Griz fall to Rams in season opener
11/14/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
University of Montana freshman Kenzie De Boer scored 23 points in her collegiate debut, but it wasn???t enough to overcome Colorado State Friday night in Fort Collins, Colo., in the season opener for both teams. The Rams limited the Lady Griz to 28.6 percent second-half shooting to pull away late for a 72-64 victory.
Montana will conclude its season-opening road trip with a 2 p.m. game at Wyoming Sunday. The Cowgirls were 65-62 winners on the road Friday night at Denver.
The Lady Griz got behind early against the Rams, falling in a 7-0 hole less than three minutes into the game.
Montana would fight back and take its first lead of the game with less than a minute remaining in the half when senior Lauren Beck converted a three-point play to give the Lady Griz a 32-31 lead with 39 second remaining.
De Boer made it 34-31 at the break when she grabbed her own missed jumper and scored on the putback just before the horn.
Beck, De Boer and junior Jessa Loman Linford all scored eight first-half points as Montana shot 48.3 percent from the field.
The Lady Griz held a pair of six-point leads midway through the second half, the final coming on a Beck jumper at the 10:38 mark that made it 54-48.
Colorado State answered with a 7-0 run to take its first lead of the second half.
Montana briefly regained the lead, but Natali Van Den Adel put the Rams up for good, 60-58, when she converted a three-point play at the 6:37 mark.
An Erin Cooke basket inside put CSU up 67-60 with just under four minutes remaining, and Montana wouldn???t get closer than five points the rest of the way.
After shooting 32.1 percent through the opening 20 minutes, Colorado State shot 53.8 percent in the second half to out-score the Lady Griz 41-30.
CSU also had a 27-15 rebounding advantage in the second half, finishing with a 46-37 edge for the game.
Montana, which was playing without an injured Sarah Ena, the junior who was honorable mention All-Big Sky Conference as a sophomore, had three players in double figures.
De Boer scored 15 of her 23 points in the second half, shooting 8-for-15 for the game, including a 2-for-4 effort from 3-point range.
Beck had 17 points, going 9-for-10 from the free throw line, and grabbed a team-high seven boards. She also collected four steals and two blocked shots.
Linford finished with 10 points and six rebounds, while senior point guard Shaunte Nance-Johnson had a game-high seven assists.
Kim Mestdagh had 17 points to lead Colorado State. Megan Heimstra finished with 16 points and 11 rebounds, and Van Den Adel added 13 points on 6-of-7 shooting.
