PHOENIX — Ninth-ranked Montana Western built a double-digit lead and then held of No. 12 Our Lady of the Lake’s fourth-quarter rally for a 59-57 women’s basketball win on Wednesday.
The Bulldogs jumped out to a 12-4 advantage in the first quarter and ballooned the lead to as many as 15 points in the second quarter and 16 in the third. Western led 57-41 with 1:25 to go in the third, but Our Lady of the Lake closed the game on a 16-2 run, limiting the Bulldogs to only two points in the fourth quarter.
King, the Frontier Conference preseason player of the year, finished with a game-high 20 points on 6-of-16 shooting. She made all five of her free throw attempts, including two crucial ones in the fourth quarter. King added seven assists and five rebounds. Savanna Bignell chipped in 10 points, and Cierra Lamey had nine points and 13 rebounds for the Bulldogs.
Our Lady of the Lake, which is in San Antonio, Texas, made just 20 of 69 field goal attempts in the game, getting 12 points from Mikki Flores and 11 from Samantha Atkinson-Roach.
Western improved to 7-0 with the win and will continue its tour in Phoenix on Thursday against Benedictine University at Mesa.
