An inability to execute and make key defensive stops in the clutch cost the Hornets an upset victory Thursday night at Hornet Gym.

The Hornets (3-22) were clinging to a five-point lead with 41 seconds remaining, but suffered key breakdowns on both the offensive and defensive ends of the court, which lead to their 72-64 loss.

“We talked about situations with the lead and we took some shots, but they need to be better percentage shots,” said head coach Carolyn Jenkins.

The Hornets inability to put the game away at the end of regulation allowed Montana to take the game into overtime where its long range shooting was too much for the Hornets to handle. Linda Cummings’ two three-pointers in overtime blew open the game, and exposed the confused Hornets defense.

The Hornets coaching staff instructed their team to make sure she didn’t touch the ball.”We were trying to foul their point guard because she was only a 66 percent free throw shooter, but we didn’t foul while she had the ball,” Jenkins said.

The ball instead wound up in the hands of Cummings, Montana’s leading scorer in the game with 24 points. Montana found its star wide open because the Hornets were scrambling to foul the point guard.

To their credit, the Hornets battled throughout the second half to build a lead against Montana, who looked like it was going to run away with the game at one point. The Hornets are 0-16 this season when they trail at halftime, and trailed 23-31 at intermission.

The Hornets came out and played staunch defense in the second half and discombobulated the Montana offense, by pressuring its point guards into turnovers and rushed passes. The Hornets also were actively jumping in front of the passing lanes and getting their hands on the ball. The aggressive defense pressure applied by the Hornets led to Montana’s shooting woes in the second half.

Montana shot only 29.4 percent from the field in the second half and it was out-rebounded by the Hornets by a margin of 36 to 48, despite having a noticeable size advantage. Offensively the Hornets slowed down the pace of the game and allowed themselves time to methodically run their offense and find good shots. The main contributions offensively for the Hornets came from senior forward Torilynn Boyd, who led the team with 16 points, freshman forward Tola Tallman’s 15 points, and junior forward Sephora Scoubes’ 14. Tallman was also active on the glass, collecting 15 rebounds.

The Hornets final game will be against Idaho State this Saturday at 7:05 at Hornet Gym. It will be the final collegiate game for seniors Michelle St. Clair and Boyd.