OGDEN, Utah -- Stephanie Stanger's hot hand and relentless defense led Weber State to its first Big Sky Conference tournament championship and its first berth to the NCAA Tournament with a 53-47 victory over Montana State on Saturday.

"Our team had a dream and a vision to win the championship and now it is a reality," said WSU coach Carla Taylor. "This was in the making last year after coming so close and it really is a carry over from that group."

Stanger rebounded from a horrible shooting night in the semifinals Friday to go 7-for-14 from the field and 8-for-10 at the line for 26 points.

"Stephanie Stanger had only six points last night and I am a big believer in playing the percentages," said MSU coach Robin Potera. "If she just has an average game, we win. Give her credit, she made some big plays at key moments and kept the momentum on their side."

In a game that featured poor shooting from both teams, second-seeded Montana State (18-11) held as much as a 20-14 lead on a basket by Cassie Johnson with 4:51 left in the first half.

Stanger closed out the half with a solo 8-2 run to give top-seeded Weber State a 25-22 halftime lead.

"I was thinking of what can we do to get this going and turn it around," Stanger said of being down by six points. "We had to come back in the next five minutes and concentrate on getting the ball in the basket."

Montana State could get no closer than 36-32 on a jumper by Jessica Blake with 12:01 remaining, before Weber State (22-8) built a 49-36 lead on a 3-pointer by Kristen Clyder-Gardner.

The Wildcats never relinquished that lead, relying on Stanger's outside shooting and Crystal Howe's inside defense to keep the Bobcats' offense unbalanced. The Bobcats shot 32 percent in the second half and hit only one 3-pointer.

Stanger shut down Bobcats point guard Rebecca Alvidrez, who carried her team to a 61-54 overtime victory over rival Montana in the semifinals Friday.

Alvidrez struggled to penetrate the Weber State defense and managed only two points, four assists and seven rebounds.

"We came up with a game plan and focused Stephanie Stanger to tke over the defensive responsibility," Taylor said. "She dogged MSU's Rebecca Alvidrez the entire game and tried to wear her down and keep her contained. Her defensive assignment was the difference in the game."

Weber's raucous home crowd in the Dee Events Center set a school record, with 1,785 fans.

Weber State had earned the right to host the tournament in the final game of the regular season, an overtime victory at Idaho State.

Julie Gjertsen added 11 points for Weber State.

Kati Burrows led Montana State with 13 points while Jessica Blake added 10 points and seven rebounds.

"I had some good touches inside, but I couldn't get the shots to drop," Blake said. "They played a lot better defense on us inside than in the first two games."