'Cat-Lady Griz, Part II

Saturday, February 25

BOZEMAN

2 p.m.

Montana State University

Montana

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Senior Riley Nordgaard pulls down a rebound during last year's Cat-Lady Griz contest.

Photo by: Kelly Gorham

2/22/2017 4:43:00 PM | Women's Basketball

MSU WBB NOTES (pdf)MSU WBB NOTES (PDF)

The Montana State women’s basketball team plays its final three games of the regular-season at home, beginning with Montana, Saturday, Feb. 25 at 2 p.m. in Worthington Arena. It will mark the 103rd meeting between the two rivals.

By: Tom Schulz

MONTANA (5-21, 2-13) at (MONTANA STATE (19-6, 12-3)
    Date:                         Feb. 25, 2017
    Tipoff: 2 p.m. (MST)
    Site:                          Worthington Arena (7,250) * Bozeman, MT
    Radio:                       1450 KMMS-AM; Play-by-Play with Jason Alvine
    Live Video: WatchBigSky.com; Live Stats: bobcatstats.com
    Television: SWX MT - Shaun Rainey, Melinda Lee, Kyle Sherman

NEXT UP: The Montana State women's basketball team plays its final three games of the regular-season at home, beginning with Montana, Saturday, Feb. 25 at 2 p.m. in Worthington Arena. It will mark the 103rd meeting between the two rivals.

ON A SERIES NOTE: MSU trails Montana 77-25 in the all-time series dating back to the 1974-75 season. However, the Bobcats have captured three of the last four meetings, including a thrilling come-from-behind 75-69 overtime victory over the Lady Griz on Feb. 4 in Missoula. In her 12 seasons at MSU, head coach Tricia Binford is 8-18 against Montana, but 7-10 since 2009-10. MSU's last sweep over the Lady Griz came during the 1998-99 season as the Bobcats defeated the Lady Griz 65-49 at Sentinel High School in Missoula and 76-67 in Bozeman.

WHAT'S AT STAKE: The Bobcats currently sit in a second-place tie with Northern Colorado in the Big Sky standings. With a Bobcat win in its last three contests or with a loss by either Idaho or Eastern Washington, MSU is guaranteed a top four seed and a first-round bye at the Big Sky Tournament in Reno, Nevada March 6-11.

NO PLACE LIKE HOME: The Bobcats are riding a 22-game home winning streak after its 71-68 victory over Southern Utah on Feb. 11. The streak is fourth longest at the NCAA Division I level, behind UConn 62, UCLA 27 and Bucknell 24.

STATE OF THE LEAGUE: The Big Sky is currently ranked 19th out of 32 conferences in the RPI. This week's NCAA Nitty-Gritty team RPI has MSU ranked 82, followed by North Dakota 123, Idaho 124, Northern Colorado 127, Eastern Washington 132, Idaho State 152, Weber State 216, Portland State 232, Sacramento State 279, Southern Utah 293, Northern Arizona 305 and Montana 330.

MSU PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Riley Nordgaard averaged 18.5 points, 7.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 2.5 steals per game as the Bobcats split its road trip to Portland State and Sacramento State. The Canby, Minn., product was instrumental in MSU's 104-82 victory at Sacramento State. Nordgaard scored a game-high 25 points, while pulling down 11 rebounds for her seventh double-double. In addition, she also added two steals and two assists, while connecting on four 3-pointers. At Portland State, Nordgaard recorded 12 points, four rebounds, three assists and three steals. She ended the weekend shooting 45 percent from the field, 43 percent from beyond the arc and 93 percent (13-14) from the free throw line.

SCOUTING THE LADY GRIZ:
Montana is 5-21 overall and 2-13 in Big Sky action. UM snapped its 11-game league losing streak two weeks ago with a 64-55 win over Southern Utah. Last weekend, the Lady Griz dropped a pair of road games, losing at Sacramento State (99-69) and Portland State (68-45). On the season, Montana has been paced by Taylor Goligoski, who averages 11.2 points and 3.4 rebounds per game. In their first meeting this season, MSU rallied from a nine-point deficit with 2:34 remaining to post a 75-69 overtime victory in Missoula. Montana State was led by Peyton Ferris with 27 points, 12 rebounds, five blocks, three assists and two steals. Also in double-figures were Delany Junkermier 13, Riley Nordgaard 12 and Hannah Caudill 10. UM was led by Goligoski with 19 points and McKenzie Johnston 17.

TALE OF THE TAPE: MSU vs. Montana

MSU.................. Stat.................. UM
73.8................... PPG................. 54.2
41.4................... FG%................. 34.7
33.8.................. 3FG%................ 25.9
70.6................... FT%................. 61.0
44.0.................. REB/G................ 38.0
16.3.................. AST/G................ 11.5
7.4.................... STL/G.................. 5.6
3.1................... BLK/G.................. 2.3
16.2.................. TO/G................ 15.2

BUELLER: Peyton Ferris, a two-time Big Sky Top Reserve of the Year, came off the bench in all 31 games last season. This year, Ferris has started every game. She leads the team and is second in the Big Sky averaging 18.6 points per game. Ferris is second on the squad in rebounding at 7.1 per contest, which is eighth in the league. Ferris joined MSU's 1,000-point club with a season-best 32 points at North Dakota. Currently, she is 17th on MSU's all-time scoring chart, and eight points away from surpassing Ashley Brumwell (09-14) for 16th. In addition, Ferris became the 12th member of MSU's prestigious 1,000/500 club as she is 18th all-time with 532 rebounds. Ferris, who was voted 2016-17 preseason Big Sky MVP, recorded her second double-double of the year with 27 points and 12 boards at Montana on Feb. 4. In Big Sky action, the Twin Bridges product has notched six games over 20 points and two games over the 30-point plateau. At UM on Feb. 4, she swatted a career-high five blocks. Last year, Ferris finished eighth in the nation in field-goal percentage shooting at a 58 percent clip.

THE LIFE OF RILEY: Riley Nordgaard, the 2015-16 Big Sky Newcomer of the Year, made her debut on Nov. 23 at UC Davis. Nordgaard made an immediate impact earning Big Sky Player of the Week kudos, after averaging 12.7 points and 8.7 rebounds in three games. The Canby, Minn., product has seven double-doubles on the season after posting 25 points and 11 rebounds at Sacramento State, last Saturday. She recorded a career-high 26 points in MSU's win over Sacramento State on Jan. 19, connecting on eight-of-14 from the field. In MSU's win over Portland State on Jan. 21, Nordgaard connected on a career-high six 3-pointers. She had a career-high 13 rebounds against Idaho on Jan. 7. She is currently second on the team with 49 3-pointers and is second shooting 37.1 percent from beyond the arc.

THAT AINT NO LIE: Sophomore Annika Lai has started four games this season filling in during the absence of Riley Nordgaard. The 6-1 product of Boulder, Colorado posted a career-high 15 points against Idaho on Jan. 7, connecting on seven-of-13 from the field. She has seven double-figure scoring games on the season, after knocking down 11 points at Sacramento State on Saturday. In Montana State's 83-68 win at Weber State, Lai notched 13 points and grabbed a career-high 10 rebounds for her first-ever double-double. On the season, Lai is averaging 6.8 points and 4.4 rebounds per game. She is averaging 22.5 minutes per contest. Lai is third on the Bobcat team shooting 46.4 percent from the field. She is also fourth in rebounding and fifth in scoring. Lai averaged 8.5 points, last weekend.

JUNK MAIL: Delany Junkermier has delivered six double-figure scoring games this season, including a season-high 13 points, twice, with the last coming in MSU's win at Montana on Feb. 4. Averaging 6.8 points per game, the Spokane product has averaged 7.5 points per contest in Big Sky action. Last weekend, she averaged 9.0 points, 5.0 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game.

FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS: Senior Margreet Barhoum has had a knack for answering the bell when MSU has needed a three-pointer this season. Barhoum answered the call and dialed up a key 3-pointer in Montana State's win over Pacific on Nov. 25 with 41-seconds left. She hit another big triple at Portland on Dec. 11 with 2:21 left to give the Cats the lead for good over the Pilots. Against Cal Poly on Dec. 20, her 3-pointer ignited a MSU fourth quarter run and her 3-pointer with six-minutes left vs. Portland State broke open a tie game. The Edmonds, Washington product, who is averaging 2.5 points per contest, finished with a season-high ten points - connecting on three-of-five from the field and two-of-two from beyond the 3-point line at Portland on Dec. 11. She also added two assists and a rebound against the Pilots. Barhoum is currently shooting 31 percent from the field. Last weekend, she averaged 16 minutes of action and dished out five assists.

FAB FRESH: All three Bobcat true-freshmen - Blaire Braxton, Oliana Squires and Madeline Smith - have made an impact this season. Braxton, a native of Highlands Ranch, Colo., has started all 25 games and is averaging 3.8 points and 7.2 rebounds per game. At Sacramento State on Saturday, she yanked down a season-best 14 rebounds. She is seventh in the Big Sky in rebounding and blocks. Braxton notched a career-high 10 points on Feb. 9 vs. Northern Arizona. Squires has played in 22 of 25 games and is averaging 6.7 points per game, which is sixth best on the team. She posted a season-high 17 points in MSU's loss at Northern Colorado. She is averaging 14.4 minutes per game and is third on the team with 24 three-pointers. On. Jan. 7 against Idaho, Smith tallied a season-high 13 points. The product of Snohomish, Washington is averaging 15.2 minutes per game and is chipping in 6.2 points and 4.0 rebounds per contest. She posted her eighth double-digit scoring game with 11 points at Sacramento State on Saturday. Smith is averaging 7.3 points and 4.1 boards per game in Big Sky play, while shooting 59.1 percent from the field.

BOZEMAN DOWNTOWN ASSOCIATION: After the 25 games, the Bobcats have connected on 187-of-554 from beyond the three-point arc. MSU is paced from long distance by Hannah Caudill with 58 triples. The Spokane product is followed by Riley Nordgaard 49, Oliana Squires 24, Delany Junkermier 23, Peyton Ferris 14 and Margreet Barhoum 9. MSU is shooting 33.8 percent from beyond 20-feet, 9-inches, which is the 3rd best in the Big Sky Conference. Last year, the Bobcats went 179-of-498 (35.9%) from three-point territory. As a team, Montana State has recorded at least one 3-pointer in the last 127 consecutive games. The last time Montana State was held without a three-pointer was Jan. 24, 2013 (0-9) at Weber State in Ogden, UT.

STINGY D: The Bobcat defense has evolved into one of the best units in the Big Sky. MSU is first in three-point field goal defense (.277), rebounding offense (44.0), and defensive rebounds (30.3). Nationally, the Bobcats are ranked No. 6 in defensive rebounds per game; No. 9 in rebounds per game; No. 22 in 3-point field-goal percentage; No. 40 in field-goal percentage defense, No. 41 in total rebounds; and No. 63 in rebound margin.

TO CATCH A THIEF: MSU had logged 185 steals on the season. Eight Bobcat players have recorded twelve or more steals, paced by Riley Nordgaard with 43. Nordgaard has made her presence felt on the defensive end having played in 22 games to date and averaging 7.8 rebounds. Last year, the 5-10 forward who transferred to Bozeman from Augustana College, recorded 76 thefts, the eighth highest single-season total in Montana State history.