BOZEMAN, Mont. – A poor shooting night for the University of Providence came at a good time. While a strong performance against NCAA Division I Montana State University would have been nice, a tough 66-31 loss to the Bobcats won't cost UP anything with the game being an exhibition.
 
The Lady Argos shot 21 percent from the field, 12 percent from three, and 37 percent from the free-throw line in the loss, all of which would be season lows if the game actually counted. Some of those misses weren't bad shooting but were a result of an MSU roster that includes seven girls that are 6 feet tall or taller. That height and length led to 7 blocks of Lady Argo shots.
 
UP's starters usually score the bulk of the team's points, but this time only one player in the starting five shot better than 17 percent from the field. That one starter was senior forward Kallee Wilson who went 2-4 from the field and still only scored 4 points.
 
Instead, two bench players stepped up big.
 
The first of the two bench players to not blink in the face of upper-level competition was easy to predict. Junior Tristan Murphy, who played at the NCAA DI level for the past two seasons, had 6 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assists, 1 steal, and 1 block in 16 minutes of play against a familiar quality of opponent.
 
The second was harder to predict. Freshman Kerstyn Pimperton, who has averaged 9.4 minutes and 2.0 points per game through 7 games, scored a team-high of 8 points in 14 minutes. She was the only Lady Argo to hit a shot from behind the 3-point arc, hitting 2-4 from distance and also led the team with 3 steals.
 
When UP faced MSU in 2016-17 the game was a bit higher scoring but had a similar result, with the Bobcats winning by 33 points. The next two games the Lady Argos were two wins over ranked NAIA opponents in a tournament down in Jackson, Tennessee.
 
UP will be playing in that tournament again in 2017-18 but before it goes down to Tennessee the team will go to Caldwell, Idaho to take on The College of Idaho on November 18 at 3 p.m.