Lindsey Branch, UMW Sports Information Photo Credit Terri Haverfield
HELENA, Mont. – The Montana Western women's basketball team (13-11, 5-6) fought down to the wire with the Frontier-leading Carroll College (19-4, 10-1). Despite taking the Saints to overtime tied up at 65, the Bulldogs came up short and fell by a final score of 77-73.
UMW came out hot from the start and played a solid defensive first half. The Bulldogs forced Carroll to 10 turnovers in the first two quarters. Despite the narrow half lead, the Saints found success in overtime and outscored the Bulldogs 12-8 to finish out on top.
How it Happened
The Bulldogs came out swinging early in the game, with Jordan Sweeney throwing jabs quickly at the strong Carroll defense. She would go on to put up eight in the first quarter and lead the Bulldogs to take a 21-14 lead after the first quarter.
Up 33-25 with 2:23 left in the first half, Carroll rode a 7-0 scoring wave and benefited from a triple from Erica Nessan with just two seconds left on the clock. The Bulldogs would lead 33-32 heading into the second half.
Maddy Moy and Shainy Mack combined for a pair of buckets to get the Bulldogs back out to a five-point lead, but the Saints came right back at the Bulldogs.
Carroll snagged their first lead of the game with 5:31 left in the second half and found enough momentum to take a 47-43 lead with four remaining in the third.
After a continued back and forth effort that left Carroll still in charge of the lead, Isabella Lund drew a foul and tied the game at 49 following a bucket from the charity stripe. Sweeney would then cap the quarter for Western with a fadeaway jumper from the top of the key to help keep Western up 53-52 heading into the fourth quarter.
The two teams kept throwing punches in what would become a boxing match that would take the two into overtime knotted at 65. Despite the early overtime lead fueled by Joelnell Momberg, the Saints were able to outscore UMW down the stretch and take the game by a final score of 77-73.
Notables
In the first half alone, the Bulldogs forced Carroll to 10 turnovers. The Bulldogs would force a total of 17 turnovers in the game, a mark unseen by the Saints since early last November.
The last time the two teams went to overtime was back in 2013 in Dillon. The Saints came out on top 64-60.
As a team, the Bulldogs shot 50.8 percent from the field and held the Saints to 44.8 shooting. UMW also scored 16 points off of Carroll's 16 turnovers.
Sweeney led the Bulldogs with 22 points, four assists, three rebounds and two blocks.
Joelnell Momberg's four steals helped Western rack up a total of eight in the game. She also totaled 17 points after she went 7-12 from the field.
Up Next
Montana Western will be back in the Straugh Gymnasium to take on MSU-Northern for the last time this regular season. Tip-off is Thursday, February 15 at 5:30 pm MT.
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