Northern Arizona Sets Up Meeting With Northridge

Kristi Foreman scored 14 of her game-high 19 points in the first half Thursday night to lead No. 6-seeded Northern Arizona to a 68-56 upset over No. 3-seeded Montana State in the first round of the Big Sky Conference women’s basketball tournament at Cal State Northridge.

The Lumberjacks will play top-seeded Cal State Northridge at 7:30 tonight.

Foreman had 10 points in the first 10:06, capping the run with a layup to give the Lumberjacks (14-13) a 22-13 lead.

Montana State (17-!0) closed to within 26-23 with four minutes left in the half, but Northern Arizona took a 32-25 lead into halftime.

The Bobcats scored eight of the first 10 points in the second half, closing the gap to 34-33 with 12:26 remaining.

But Northern Arizona answered with three consecutive three-point baskets in a 9-0 run. Montana State never got closer than six points after that.

Liz Metsers had 14 points for Northern Arizona, all in the second half. RaeAnn West added 12 points and 12 rebounds, and Jessica LeBlanc had 12 points and 10 rebounds.

Montana State was led by Tennyson Ballek, who finished with 17 points and a season-high 16 rebounds. Jamie Spring scored 12 points and Serena Merrill had 10 rebounds for the Bobcats.

In the other first-round game:

Montana 62, Weber State 46--Linda Weyler had game-high totals of 21 points and 13 rebounds to lead Montana.

Linda Cummings added 16 points for Montana (12-15) and Meggan Thompson chipped in with eight assists and six points.

Jill Hansen led Weber State (11-16) with 13 points.

No. 5-seeded Montana will play No. 2-seeded Portland State at 5:05 tonight.