BILLINGS, Mont. – The final few minutes were costly for Lady Argo basketball in their conference match-up against Rocky Mountain College. UGF let a tie score with around two minutes left slip into a double-digit loss, losing to the Battlin' Bears 82-71.
The Lady Argos shot well throughout the game, particularly in the second half with a shooting percentage of 50 in the second half. They weren't able to execute in the final few minutes, however, and their defense, which ranks in the top ten in the NAIA, struggled to stop the Bears as the game came to a close.
"I thought they out executed us down the stretch, and that's something we usually pride ourselves on," said head coach Bill Himmelberg. "I'm a little disappointed we didn't do better there, but you have to give the credit to Rocky. They hit some big shots."
The loss came despite the best efforts of the Argo's interior players. The junior duo of center Whitney George and guard/forward Nneka Nnadi combined for 37 points, 18 rebounds, and seven assists.
Nnadi scored over twenty for the fourth consecutive game, adding six rebounds, four assists, and two steals to her stats totals. George earned her fourth double-double of the season with 16 points and 14 rebounds.
"It was a great effort from Whitney and Nnadi, and we had a lot of girls do a lot of good things," Himmelberg said. "It was a lot closer than the final score shows."
While the team's Preseason All-American, Erin Legal, struggled to score, with just seven points, Himmelberg said she was able to help the team in other ways.
"She did a great job of seeing the floor and recognizing what we needed to do," Himmelberg said. "She drew a couple of plays up at half time that she thought would be open for us and they were."
With the Bears shutting down Legal, her backcourt mates found ways to make up for her low scoring night. Sophomore guard Stephanie McDonagh score 15 for UGF, while junior Morgan Grier scored 10.
The loss brings the Lady Argo's record to 7-3 (1-1). Next they'll put conference play on hold for a tournament in Arizona, starting with a game against Arizona Christian on Dec. 18 at 5 p.m.
