Bobcats Rally for Sixth Straight Win

Tuesday, December 20

BOZEMAN

7 p.m.

Montana State University

7-3

Cal Poly

4-7

Cal Poly

Montana State

Junior Delany Junkermier

Photo by: Adrian Sanchez-Gonzalez

12/20/2016 10:23:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

By: Tom Schulz

Montana State found itself in an unfamiliar place, but dug down deep behind the play of its bench, defense and timely baskets by its seniors to post a 71-52 victory over Cal Poly, Tuesday night in Worthington Arena.

The victory gave the Bobcats its sixth consecutive win.

"We were in uncharted territory and we had a great opportunity to respond to it with composure," said MSU 12^th year head coach Tricia Binford. "I want to credit our bench, that line-up that tightened it up at the end of the quarter had not one starter on the floor. I think it shows the depth of this team and it shows the confidence in each other."

Cal Poly (4-7) came out on fire behind the effort of twin sisters Dynn and Lynn Leaupepe. The duo combined for 14 points in the opening stanza to give the Mustangs a 22-15 advantage after 10-minutes.

Cal Poly pushed its lead to 32-19 at the 7:11 mark of the second quarter, before Montana State (7-3) whittled the lead down to four points at intermission. The 13-4 Bobcat run was sparked by freshmen Madeline Smith and Oliana Squires, who each pitched in four points.

MSU grabbed its first lead of the second half at the 7:33 mark on a Hannah Caudill layup. A Squires three-pointer followed by a Peyton Ferris free throw gave the Cats a 48-43 advantage at the 2:25 mark, but the Mustangs answered closing out the stanza with seven straight points to take a 50-48 margin into the final quarter.

The fourth quarter was all MSU as its seniors – Ferris, Riley Nordgaard, and Margreet Barhoum – took control. Ferris, a product of Twin Bridges, scored the first four points to give the Bobcats the lead for good. Nordgaard stretched the lead with a triple and another triple by Barhoum at the 4:49 mark gave MSU a hefty 62-50 lead. Montana State opened the quarter on a 23-0 run and held Cal Poly scoreless until a Gabby Grupalo layup with 15-seconds remaining foiled the MSU shutout.

"Truly proud with how we responded with our defense in the second half to battle back against a team that offensively is really hard to guard," Binford commented. "The seniors experience definitely started to show. Riley was all over the place on both ends getting defensive and Peyton got some opportunities in the open court to get us going."

Nordgaard finished with a team-high 17 points, while Ferris also ended in double-digits with 14 points. Squires and Caudill each chipped in nine points, apiece, as the Bobcats shot 37.5 percent from the field, including a 50 percent effort in the final period.

The Bobcats held a 52-42 advantage under the boards as Smith paced MSU with a game-high ten rebounds, while Nordgaard and Blaire Braxton pulled down nine and seven caroms, respectively.

Dynn Leaupepe guided Cal Poly with 18 points, but only two points came in the second half. Lynn Leaupepe finished with 10 points and seven rebounds.

The Bobcats will take a five-day Christmas break before returning on the 26^th in preparation for the Big Sky Conference opener at Weber State on Dec. 29.