Hot-Shooting Vandals Take Down Cats

Thursday, January 10

BOZEMAN

7 p.m.

Montana State University

8-7, 3-2Big Sky

Idaho

7-7, 4-1Big Sky

Idaho

Montana State

Blaire Braxton scored a career-high 18 points against Idaho on Thursday night.

Photo by: Andrew Pedersen

1/10/2019 10:09:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Braxton posted a career-high 18 points for the Bobcats, connecting on seven-of-11 from the field. Also in double-digits were Squires 15, Madeline Smith 11 and Halle Wright 10.

By: Tom Schulz

BOZEMAN, Mont. – Idaho seniors Taylor Pierce and Mikayla Ferenz showed why they're considered one of the best shooting tandems in the country combining for 52 points, including 14 3-pointers, en route to an 82-66 win over Montana State on Thursday night in Worthington Arena.

Montana State (8-7, 3-2) held a 10-8 lead early in the contest on a Blaire Braxton layup, but Idaho (7-7, 4-1) finished out the opening frame on a 7-0 run and never relinquished its lead for the remainder of the game.

The Vandals opened the second quarter on an 8-0 run sparked by a pair of triples by Pierce and Ferenz. MSU's Oliana Squires poured in ten points in a three-minute run midway through the period and the Bobcats pulled to within 39-34 with 1:53 left in the half on another Braxton layup.

Idaho held a 43-36 cushion at intermission after shooting 57.9 percent from the field in the second quarter.

UI opened the second half on a 9-0 run and MSU would get no closer than seven points in the final 20-minutes.

"(Taylor) Pierce and (Mikayla) Ferenz had fantastic nights and we did not do a great job of forcing more contested shots," said MSU head coach Tricia Binford. "Obviously, there were some that they hit that we contested, but too good of shooters to give them rhythm looks. We had some breakdowns, internally, and we needed to do a better job on those two."

Pierce finished with 28 points, including eight 3-pointers, while Ferenz ended with 24 points and six triples. Also in double-figures for the Vandals was Juliet Jones, who came off the bench for 13 points.

Braxton posted a career-high 18 points for the Bobcats, connecting on seven-of-11 from the field. Also in double-digits were Squires 15, Madeline Smith 11 and Halle Wright 10.

"We really couldn't shoot well from the perimeter," Binford said. "We're going to start having to knock down some shots just to give us a little bit more balance because I think our interior is doing a great job. We definitely need to get that balance from the outside."

The Bobcats shot 37 percent for the game, but connected on just four-of-20 from long distance. Idaho converted 16-of-42 from beyond the arc, shooting at a 38.1 percent clip.

Idaho out-rebounded Montana State by a narrow 47-45 margin. Braxton and Martha Kuderer each posted a team-high eight rebounds, while Wright added seven. Squires finished with a game-high nine assists, while Kamden Hilborn dished out four.

Claire Lundberg, who leads MSU in scoring averaging 18.9 points per game, was held to nine points. It was the first time this season the senior has been held to a single-digit output.

Montana State will travel to Northern Colorado on Monday night.