Cats Host Argos on Sunday

GREAT FALLS (7-0, 0-0 FC) at MONTANA STATE (0-2, 0-0 BSC)
Date:                Nov. 20, 2016
Tipoff:              2 p.m. (MT)
Site:                     Worthington Arena (7,250) ? Bozeman
Radio:                  1450 KMMS-AM; Play-by-Play with Jason Alvine
Live Stream:       WatchBigSky.com
Live Stats:            Bobcatstats.com

HOME-OPENER: The 2016-17 edition of Montana State women's basketball will open its home slate when it hosts Frontier Conference foe Great Falls on Sunday at 2 p.m. The game will be a counter for the Bobcats, while listed as an exhibition for the Argos. MSU enters the contest looking for its first win of the season after dropping a pair of games last weekend to Utah and Utah State. Great Falls is 7-0 on the year. On Tuesday, UGF dropped a 66-55 exhibition contest to the University of Montana in Missoula. Jenna Randich, a 5-7 freshman guard from Olympia, Wash., and Nnadi Nneka, a 5-9 senior guard from Tacoma, Wash., paced the Argos with 15 and ten points, respectively against the Lady Griz.

ALL-TIME SERIES: Montana State owns a 5-0 lead in its all-time series with Great Falls dating back to Dec. 2, 1980 (the only game played in Great Falls). The last time the two teams met was Dec. 4, 2014 with the Bobcats handing the Argos an 87-71 setback in Worthington Arena.

HOW `BOUT THEM CATS: MSU head coach Tricia Binford, who enters her 12th year leading the Bobcat program, welcomes back six letterwinners, including two starters (Riley Nordgaard, Delany Junkermier), a two-time Big Sky Top Reserve of the Year (Peyton Ferris) and Big Sky Conference Newcomer of the Year (Nordgaard). The Bobcats captured the program's first-ever outright Big Sky regular-season title last season going 14-4 in league play. MSU also welcomes five newcomers.

BOBCAT REWIND: Almost everything the Bobcats tossed at the basket in the second half seemed to bounce around the rim and fall out. Couple that with being out-rebounded and giving up 21 turnovers, Utah State was able to hold on for a 64-56 win over Montana State, Monday night. Montana State shot just 25 percent from the field in the second stanza, including 12 percent from beyond the arc and 54 percent from the line. Montana State held a 29-25 advantage at intermission. MSU was led by Annika Lai with 13 points, while Peyton Ferris added 12. Lai also guided the Cats under the boards with nine rebounds. MSU picked up where it left off last season, this time with much better results. Utah defeated the Bobcats 95-61 last March in the first-round of the WNIT. In the season-opener for both squads on Saturday afternoon, the Utes escaped with a 74-64 victory in Huntsman Center. Led by Ferris' 18 points and nine rebounds and freshman Oliana Squire' 15 points the Bobcats matched Utah at 18-all after the opening quarter. Montana State held a 29-26 lead at the 3:25 mark of the second stanza following a pair of Ferris free throws, but the Utes closed out the half on a 9-2 run to take a 35-31 advantage into intermission. Tied at 37-all in the third quarter, Utah (1-0) scored ten straight points and held a 54-47 cushion heading into the final stanza. Utah built its largest lead of the game at 69-52 with 3:31 remaining, before the Cats whittled the lead down to 69-62 on a Ferris jumper. MSU would get no closer down the stretch.

STINGY DEFENSE: While the Bobcat offense is still trying to find its stride after the opening two games, the MSU defense has been solid limiting its opponents to 34 percent from the field and an icy 22 percent from beyond the three-point arc.

HARD BLOCK CAFE`: Adding to Montana State's defense last weekend was its ability to change shots and record blocks. After two games, the Bobcats are averaging a whopping 7.0 blocks per game, three more than any other Big Sky Conference school. Against Utah, MSU turned away ten shots, led by freshman Blaire Braxton with four, Peyton Ferris with three and freshman guard Oliana Squires with two. At Utah State, the Bobcats registered four blocks paced by Annika Lai with two swats.

BUELLER: Senior Peyton, a two-time Big Sky Conference Top Reserve of the Year, came off the bench in all 31 games last season. This year, Ferris has already made two starts. She leads the team in scoring averaging 15 points per game and is second in rebounding at 7.5 per contest. Last year, she was eighth in the nation in field-goal percentage, shooting at a 58 percent clip.

THAT AINT NO LIE: Sophomore Annika Lai did an outstanding job for the Bobcats against Utah and Utah State. The 6-1 product of Boulder, Colorado started in place of senior Riley Nordgaard. Lai posted a career-high 13 points to pace MSU against Utah State on Monday night, connecting on six-of-11 from the field. In addition, she pulled down a team-high nine rebounds, while adding two assists and two blocks. In the season-opener at Utah, Lai recorded 12 points, while grabbing five rebounds.

DISHING THE ROCK: Junior Hannah Caudill is averaging 5.0 assists per game, which ranks third in the Big Sky Conference after the opening week of play. The graduate of Gonzaga Prep in Spokane, Washington dished out five assists against both Utah and Utah State. Last winter, Caudill led the Big Sky averaging 5.4 assists per contest. The mark also ranked 36th in the nation. On the year, she dished out 166 assists, which was second most ever recorded in a single season at Montana State. Caudill is currently 61 assists away from breaking onto MSU's all-time career assists chart.

FAB FROSH: All three Bobcat freshmen will be asked to contribute this season. And, after the opening week of play, it's apparent that won't be a problem. Freshman point-guard Oliana Squires came off the bench to average 11.5 points per game, including 15 points against Utah. Squires went nine-of-nine from the line against the Utes and is first on the Bobcat squad shooting 92 percent from the charity stripe. Freshman post Blaire Braxton started both games last week and controlled the boards for the Bobcats. The product of Highlands Ranch, Colorado averaged a team-best 8.5 boards per game in the Beehive State, including a game-high 11 rebounds against Utah. Her 11 boards versus Utah is especially notable after going up against 6-7 Emily Potter. MSU's third freshman is Madeline Smith. The native of Snohomish, Washington averaged 9.5 minutes of action and recorded 1.0 points and 2.5 rebounds per contest.

SIGN ON THE DOTTED LINE: The Bobcats signed four players to National Letters-of-Intent during the early signing period. Singing with Montana State were Coral Gillette, a 6-foot guard from Bismarck, N.D., Tori Martell, a 5-8 guard from Somerset, Wis., Laura Pranger, a 6-2 forward from Centennial, Colo., and Ashley Van Sickle, a 5-7 guard from Arvada, Colo.

Schedule

Players Mentioned

Blaire Braxton

Hannah Caudill

Peyton Ferris

Delany Junkermier

Annika Lai

Riley Nordgaard

Madeline Smith

Oliana Squires

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