Montana State Opens Season in Front of Raucous Bobcat School Day Crowd
11/7/2018 11:31:00 AM | Women's Basketball
The Bobcat women's basketball team produced a win in front of a sell-out crowd featuring classes from area schools
Montana State women's basketball hosted Carroll College to start its season on Tuesday. The game marked the second annual Bobcat School Day Basketball game, with the event catered for kindergarten through eighth grade classes from around the state, which are offered a chance to see a college campus and to experience college athletics.
Over 6,000 students came from around the state came to cheer on the Bobcats, dance with their peers and learn a little bit about MSU.
"I think there were so many benefits to (yesterday)," said Bethany Cordell, Montana State's Associate Athletic Director for Marketing. "The fact that we had this many kids on campus, likely their first time on a campus, and the fact that it gets to be Montana State University is pretty special."
The kids filled up Worthington Arena, marking the first ever sell-out to a women's basketball game at Montana State. The idea had been in motion for a couple of years, with timing last year finally lining up to make it possible.
"It was an initiative (head coach Tricia) Binford wanted to do," said Cordell. "She had been talking about it for quite a few years and the cards kind of all fell into place to do it last year for the first time. It was an enormous success."
Yesterday, the Bobcats defeated the Saints, 64-48. Playing in front of that many kids presented both teams with an added challenge, communication became key. There was never a moment void of cheers or screams. After practicing in empty gyms leading up to a new season, the Bobcat School Day game provided an opportunity for the Bobcats to experience playing in front of a sold-out crowd.
"The biggest thing is communication," said Binford. "We've got to be able to execute what we want to execute, I thought we let some factors dictate us today. The defense was pretty solid for the most part with communication. On the offensive end, we had way too many turnovers in the first half, we need to clean those up."
Tuesday's experience was not only special for the visiting students, but everybody involved, from the coaches down to the players.
Helping the Bobcats close the door on a tough Saints opponent was forward Claire Lundberg, who led the team with 25 points. The Seton Hall transfer started her regular season strong in her Bobcat debut.
"When everyone starts screaming and you can't hear anything, that's what makes it so much fun," said Lundberg. "This day is just something special."
MSU freshman guard Kamden Hilborn played high school basketball at Helena High School. Hilborn faced her hometown Saints in the opening game and she managed to make a difference in her first minutes as a Bobcat. She provided valuable minutes as a guard off the bench and finished with a steal and a couple of rebounds.
"(Hilborn) is a spark," Binford said. "When you talk about her game, you can throw her in there and she kind of has that relentless personality. She can really get after it on both ends of the floor, no fear in that kid's game. It was fun for her to get out there and have some people from her hometown here."
Montana State could never get its 3-point attempts to start falling consistently, collectively shooting under 30 percent from long range. With a big crowd on hand, the MSU guards stayed involved in the action despite the lack of perimeter scoring.
Sharp-shooting guard Tori Martell excelled without having her best shooting game. The sophomore shared the team lead with seven rebounds, got to the line six times and also dished out three assists. Her impact on the court was evident on both sides.
"When my shot's not falling, I just need to find another way to get myself going in the game and get included," said Martell. "I kind of used rebounding and pushing the ball up the court to get more involved in the game when my shot wasn't going."
Tuesday was a learning experience for MSU as it picked up a win to open its 2018-19 season. The Bobcats compete in the preseason Women's NIT when they travel to Milwaukee to take on nationally-ranked Marquette on Friday.
Over 6,000 students came from around the state came to cheer on the Bobcats, dance with their peers and learn a little bit about MSU.
"I think there were so many benefits to (yesterday)," said Bethany Cordell, Montana State's Associate Athletic Director for Marketing. "The fact that we had this many kids on campus, likely their first time on a campus, and the fact that it gets to be Montana State University is pretty special."
The kids filled up Worthington Arena, marking the first ever sell-out to a women's basketball game at Montana State. The idea had been in motion for a couple of years, with timing last year finally lining up to make it possible.
"It was an initiative (head coach Tricia) Binford wanted to do," said Cordell. "She had been talking about it for quite a few years and the cards kind of all fell into place to do it last year for the first time. It was an enormous success."
Yesterday, the Bobcats defeated the Saints, 64-48. Playing in front of that many kids presented both teams with an added challenge, communication became key. There was never a moment void of cheers or screams. After practicing in empty gyms leading up to a new season, the Bobcat School Day game provided an opportunity for the Bobcats to experience playing in front of a sold-out crowd.
"The biggest thing is communication," said Binford. "We've got to be able to execute what we want to execute, I thought we let some factors dictate us today. The defense was pretty solid for the most part with communication. On the offensive end, we had way too many turnovers in the first half, we need to clean those up."
Tuesday's experience was not only special for the visiting students, but everybody involved, from the coaches down to the players.
Helping the Bobcats close the door on a tough Saints opponent was forward Claire Lundberg, who led the team with 25 points. The Seton Hall transfer started her regular season strong in her Bobcat debut.
"When everyone starts screaming and you can't hear anything, that's what makes it so much fun," said Lundberg. "This day is just something special."
MSU freshman guard Kamden Hilborn played high school basketball at Helena High School. Hilborn faced her hometown Saints in the opening game and she managed to make a difference in her first minutes as a Bobcat. She provided valuable minutes as a guard off the bench and finished with a steal and a couple of rebounds.
"(Hilborn) is a spark," Binford said. "When you talk about her game, you can throw her in there and she kind of has that relentless personality. She can really get after it on both ends of the floor, no fear in that kid's game. It was fun for her to get out there and have some people from her hometown here."
Montana State could never get its 3-point attempts to start falling consistently, collectively shooting under 30 percent from long range. With a big crowd on hand, the MSU guards stayed involved in the action despite the lack of perimeter scoring.
Sharp-shooting guard Tori Martell excelled without having her best shooting game. The sophomore shared the team lead with seven rebounds, got to the line six times and also dished out three assists. Her impact on the court was evident on both sides.
"When my shot's not falling, I just need to find another way to get myself going in the game and get included," said Martell. "I kind of used rebounding and pushing the ball up the court to get more involved in the game when my shot wasn't going."
Tuesday was a learning experience for MSU as it picked up a win to open its 2018-19 season. The Bobcats compete in the preseason Women's NIT when they travel to Milwaukee to take on nationally-ranked Marquette on Friday.
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