Cats Host Idaho State Thursday Night

Thursday, February 14

BOZEMAN

7 p.m.

Montana State University

Idaho State

Oliana Squires goes up for two against Montana on Feb. 2 in Worthington Arena.

Photo by: Adrian Sanchez-Gonzalez

2/12/2019 5:51:00 PM | Women's Basketball

WBB NOTES

The Bobcat women’s basketball team will play a pair of Big Sky games inside the warm confines of Worthington Arena this week.

By: Tom Schulz

WHO:             Idaho State at Montana State
WHEN:           Thursday, Feb. 14, 2019 @ 7 p.m. (MT)
WHERE:         Bozeman, Mont. - Worthington Arena (6,772)
RECORDS:      MSU- 12-11, 7-6, Idaho State- 15-7, 10-3
SERIES:           Montana State 35-18
LAST MTG:    Jan. 26, 2019 - @Idaho State 61, MSU 43
RADIO:           My 103.5 KZMY FM with Jason Alvine on play-by-play
VIDEO:            Pluto TV 238 or WatchBigSky.com

NEXT UP: The Bobcat women's basketball team will play a pair of Big Sky games inside the warm confines of Worthington Arena this week. Montana State will host Idaho State on Thursday, Feb. 14 at 7 p.m. MSU will close out the weekend against Weber State on Saturday, Feb. 16 at 2 p.m. Saturday's game will celebrate National Girls and Women in Sports Day. It will also serve as MSU's 'Pack the Place in Pink' game for breast cancer awareness.

ON A SERIES NOTE: Montana State leads the all-time series with Idaho State 44-36 dating back to the 1977-78 season. Recently, the Bobcats have captured three of the last four meetings. Idaho State defeated Montana State 61-43 on Jan. 26 in Pocatello. MSU held a 29-27 lead at intermission, but went ice-cold from the field in the second half scoring just 14 points.

STAT OF THE WEEK: On its current pace the Bobcats continue to make a charge at the all-time school free throw percentage record. The 2005-06 Bobcats established the school-record shooting 76 percent. The current Cats are at 75 percent, led by Oliana Squires at 90.5 percent from the line.

THAT WAS THE GAME THAT WAS:
    Idaho connected on 19 3-pointers, including fourteen from its dynamic duo of Mikayla Ferenz and Taylor Pierce, en route to a 90-65 victory over Montana State on Saturday afternoon at Cowan Spectrum.
    "The three-ball was definitely a difference in the entire game," said MSU head coach Tricia Binford. "So was the glass. We lacked the effort and the resilience to play on somebodies home-court and defend like we needed, too. There were a couple of possessions that they really earned those threes, but for the contest, I thought we were super flat."
    Idaho (13-8, 10-2) jumped out to a 23-10 advantage after the opening 10-minutes, connecting on five 3-pointers in the opening stanza. The Vandals pushed its lead to 19-points on Ferenz' first triple of the game at the 6:25 mark of the second quarter. UI held the 19-point margin going into intermission.
    Montana State (12-11, 7-6) chipped the lead down to 51-42 on an old-fashion three-point play by Madeline Smith at the 3-minute mark of the third period. It capped an 18-8 Bobcat run. The Vandals quickly turned the momentum on back-to-back Ferenz three-pointers to secure the Idaho victory.
    "We made a good run in the third quarter, but I think they started to figure out a little bit of our change," Binford said. "We were going a little bit of a zone on the make, and then man on the miss, and I thought that threw them off for a little bit.
    "And then, once again, you let them get a little bit comfortable in something they start getting in a groove," she added. "With a deficit like that you're continuing to play catch-up. We need to have a better start. We weren't ready to go and that's the outcome of the game."
    Ferenz finished with 32 points, while Pierce added 24. The duo converted 14-of-28 shots from beyond the arc. For the game, the Vandals shot 50.8 percent from the floor and were 19-of-38 from long distance.
    Montana State had four players in double-figures. Tori Martell, Oliana Squires and Smith all recorded 13 points, while Blaire Braxton notched ten. The Bobcats shot 38.5 percent from the field and were five-of-23 from three-point range.
    Idaho held a 44-31 advantage under the boards. MSU was led under the glass by Smith and Braxton with five and four rebounds, respectively.

MORE ON THE BENGALS: Idaho State, along with Northern Colorado, sit 1/2 game behind Idaho in second place in the Big Sky Conference standings heading into Thursday night's game with the Bobcats. Last week, the Bengals were upset in Pocatello as Northern Arizona handed ISU an 81-77 setback. The Bengals rebounded on Saturday with a convincing 80-47 victory over Southern Utah. On the weekend, Idaho State was led by Grace Kenyon, who averaged, 16 points and 7.5 rebounds per game, while shooting 50 percent from the field in the two games. For the year, the 6-0 senior forward from Bainbridge Island, Wash., has averaged a team-best 14.4 points and 6.9 boards.

HOLY MOLY, OLI: Oliana Squires is averaging 11 points per game. The Colorado Springs, Colo., product notched a season and career-high 21 points in MSU's win over Northern Arizona on Dec. 31. In the season-opener against No. 19-ranked Marquette, Squires nailed four 3-pointers. She has been in double-digit scoring in 15 of MSU's 23 games. Squires nearly pulled off a triple double at Sacramento State on Jan.5 with 13 points, a career-high ten rebounds and seven assists. In Montana State's win over Montana on Feb. 2, she had an outstanding performance with a game-high 20 points on eight-of-16 from the field, including a four-of-eight from long distance. Squires averaged 13 points, 4.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists last week at Eastern Washington and Idaho.

KUDERER'S KUDOS: Martha Kuderer, who sat out last season after transferring from Seton Hall, is averaging 10 points and five rebounds per game. She had her best Big Sky outing recording 19 points and six rebounds in MSU's win at Sacramento State. Her best weekend of the season came against Delaware and Texas State in the WNIT when she averaged 19 points and 7.5 rebounds. Kuderer had a season-high 21 points against Texas State. On the season, she has been in double-digit scoring on ten occasions. After sitting out the Montana and Northern Colorado games under concussion protocol, Kuderer paced MSU in its win at Eastern Washington with a team-high 16 points, which included a seven-of-seven effort from the free throw line. In addition, she recorded two rebounds, two assists and steals against the Eagles.

BOUNDING WITH BLAIRE: Blaire Braxton pulled down a career-high 13 rebounds in Montana State's win over Eastern Washington on Thursday night. The thirteen boards gave Braxton 507 for her career. Against EWU, she became just the 24th member of MSU's 500-rebound club. Her current 511 rebounds is currently 21st all-time at Montana State. Braxton leads the Bobcats in rebounding averaging 6.1 per game. Offensively, she is shooting 58 percent from the field, which is tops on the team. Her 6.8 points per game average is up 3.1 per contest from last winter. Braxton recorded a career-high 18 points in MSU's loss to Idaho on Jan. 10. For the game, she connected on seven-of-11 from the field and was four-of-six from the line. On the season, she has been in double-digit scoring in six games. Against Eastern Washington on Thursday night, Braxton finished with four points, 13 rebounds and three blocked shots in 23 minutes of action. She had 10 points, four rebounds and three assists at Idaho.

MAD ABOUT YOU: Madeline Smith is currently averaging 7.5 points and 5.0 rebounds per game. The product of Snohomish, Wash., registered a season-high 16 points against No. Colorado on Jan. 14, knocking down seven-of-10 attempts to go along with seven rebounds. Smith has been in double-figure scoring on eight occasions. Against E. Washington on Thursday, she posted eight points and seven boards. She followed that performance up with 13 points and five rebounds at Idaho on Saturday.

BARDS OF THE BLOCK: Juniors Madeline Smith and Blaire Braxton have manned the blocks for the Bobcats the past three seasons. The duo has swapped starting time at the five and each average 20 minutes or more per contest. On the season, the duo has combined to shoot an impressive 57.1 percent (132-231) from the floor.

THE WRIGHT STUFF: Freshman Halle Wright received her first start against TCU on Dec. 8. The Aumsville, Ore., product missed the first three games with a leg injury, but has started 16 straight since coming back. She had one of her best games of the season against Eastern Washington on Jan. 19 seeing 36 minutes of action and recording 13 points, including nine points in the overtime period. Wright also added a season-high eight assists and seven rebounds. She is averaging 6.0 points and 4.2 rebounds in Big Sky play. Wright registered four points and two rebounds in Montana State's win at Eastern Washington and posted two points on a pair of free throws at Idaho. Against the Vandals she also had two rebounds.

TORI, TORI, TORI: Tori Martell has connected on 31 three-pointers this season. The Somerset, Wis., native connected on 36 three-pointers, including 19 in the last eight games of the season, last winter. She is currently averaging 7.4 points per game in Big Sky play. Martell found her stroke from outside in Montana State's win at Northern Colorado on Jan. 14 scoring a career-high 19 points, which included a 5-of-8 performance from beyond the three-point line. Against Eastern Washington on Thursday night, Martell posted six points on a pair of 3-pointers. She recorded 13 points at Idaho on Saturday, going five-of-15 from the field.

FEET TO THE FIRE: Freshman Gabby Mocchi has played in all 23 games and is averaging 3.6 ppg in Big Sky play. She tallied a career-high against Northern Colorado on Feb. 4, scoring nine points, all from long distance. Mocchi also pulled down five boards against the Bears. Freshman Kamden Hilborn has dished out 30 assists, while adding 13 steals. The Helena High product is averaging 11.8 minutes per game. Hilborn had a season-best five points at EWU. Brynley Fitzgerald has played in 10 games and notched a season-best six points against Northern Colorado on Feb. 4.

THROWING SHAIDE: Madisyn Shaide had a career night against then No. 19 Marquette posting six points on two 3-pointers.

LAUDING LUNDBERG: Seton Hall transfer Claire Lundberg is out for the season after tearing her ACL against Northern Colorado on Feb. 4. The Anoka High School product was sixth in the Big Sky averaging 17.0 points per game. She was third in free throw percentage (86.8), 3-point field-goal percentage (39.5), points (356) and field-goals made (123), fourth in 3-point field-goals made (51) and 3-point field-goals per game (2.43), fifth in field-goals attempted (284) and field-goal percentage (43.3) and 3-point field-goals attempted (129) at the time of the injury. Lundberg had been in double-digit scoring in 18 of 21 games, including seven games with 20 points or more. She posted a season-high 28 points in MSU's win over Delaware. Lundberg was Big Sky Player of the Week for Nov. 20 after averaging 27 points and six rebounds as MSU beat Delaware and Texas State in WNIT action. Lundberg was perfect against Texas State hitting eight-of-eight from the field, four-of-four from long distance and six-of-six from the line. Lundberg is still in the hunt for Big Sky Newcomer of the Year honors.

NO PLACE LIKE HOME: The Cats saw the nation's second longest home court win streak snapped against Portland State on Jan. 11, 2018. The loss broke MSU's 31-game home streak. MSU has won 41 of its last 46 games in The Brick. The Bobcats are averaging 2,192 fans per game, which includes a sold out crowd of 6,772 against Carroll College on Nov. 6. MSU is ranked 56th in the nation in attendance.