Back-to-Back: Cats Win Share of Big Sky Title, Enter Tournament as No. 1 Seed

Friday, March 3

BOZEMAN

7 p.m.

Montana State University

22-6, 15-3BSC

Weber State

12-17, 6-12BSC

Team	1	2	3	4	F
Weber State	11	15	12	15	53
Montana State	22	14	16	20	72

Senior Peyton Ferris caps Senior Night cutting down the net to celebrate a Big Sky title.

Photo by: MSU Sports Information

Back-to-Back: Cats Win Share of Big Sky Title, Enter Tournament as No. 1 Seed

3/3/2017 11:06:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

The Portland State win, coupled with MSU’s 72-53 victory over Weber State, gives Montana State back-to-back Big Sky Conference regular-season titles. And, with its overtime win over UND earlier this season in Grand Forks, the Bocbats will enter next week’s league tournament as the No. 1 seed for the second consecutive season.

By: Tom Schulz

Senior Night is always filled with drama.

Drama before the game, drama during the game, and for the Montana State women's basketball team, drama following the game as Bobcat players, coaches and fans stayed around Worthington Arena watching Portland State take down North Dakota on the video board.

The Portland State win, coupled with MSU's 72-53 victory over Weber State, gives Montana State back-to-back Big Sky Conference regular-season titles. And, with its overtime win over UND earlier this season in Grand Forks, the Bobcats will enter next week's league tournament as the No. 1 seed for the second consecutive season.

"It's a testament to the resilience of this team just being really consistent this year," said MSU head coach Tricia Binford. "It's been a challenging conference race and I'm really proud of this group."

Montana State's (22-6, 15-3) double-headed monster of seniors Peyton Ferris and Riley Nordgaard went out in style- both collecting double-doubles in front of 2,478 spectators in the Brick Breeden Fieldhouse. Ferris finished with a game-high 22 points and pulled down ten rebounds, while Nordgaard added ten points and a game-high 12 rebounds.

MSU's third senior, Margreet Barhoum, started her second straight game for Hannah Caudill, who is sideline with an illness. Barhoum completed the night with two assists, one point and one steal.

"It felt a little different," Ferris said of her last game on the home hardwood. "I didn't get too emotional. It kind of hit me a bit when I was coming off the floor. I'm just proud of this year; proud of this team. I left on a good experience so it was easy to keep the emotions under control."

The Bobcats jumped out to an early 22-11 lead in the first period, behind 53 percent shooting and 12 points from Ferris and Nordgaard. Weber State (12-17, 6-12) cut the Bobcat lead to four in the second frame behind a 10-0 run. MSU held a 36-26 advantage at intermission.

MSU opened the third period on an 11-0 run to go up 47-28, ultimately putting WSU away. The Wildcats never came within 14 after the run.

Also scoring in double-figures for the Bobcats were Oliana Squires and Delany Junkermier, who chipped in 13 and 11 points, respectively.

The Bobcats finished the contest shooting 44 percent from the field, while holding the Wildcats to 30 percent, and just 21 percent from beyond the arc. MSU also held a commanding 50-32 advantage under the boards.

With the victory, MSU matched the school-record for most wins in a season with 1992-93 squad at 22. The 15 Big Sky Conference victories are the most in school history.

"There's been a lot of firsts," Binford said. "We believed that we had a very talented team. With that being said, the Big Sky is so competitive that 15-3 is pretty tough to get."

Weber State was paced in the loss by Deeshyra Thomas with 15 points and five rebounds.

As the No. 1 seed, the Bobcats will open Big Sky Conference Tournament play against the winner of Weber State/Sacramento State on Wednesday, March 8 at 1:05 p.m. (MST) in Reno, Nevada.