Cat-Lady Griz, Part II

Saturday, February 23

Missoula, MT

2 p.m.

Montana State University

Montana

The Bobcat bench celebrates its 74-52 victory over Montana on Feb. 2 in Worthington Arena.

Photo by: R. Dean Hendrickson

2/19/2019 5:41:00 PM | Women's Basketball

WBB NOTES

The Bobcat women’s basketball team will travel to Missoula to face rival Montana on Saturday, Feb. 23 at 2 p.m. in Dahlberg Arena. MSU won the first meeting in the Brawl of the Wild series on Feb. 2 74-52 in Bozeman.

By: Tom Schulz

WHO:               Montana State at Montana
WHEN:             Saturday, Feb. 23, 2019 @ 2 p.m. (MT)
WHERE:           Missoula, Mont. - Dahlberg Arena (7,500)
RECORDS:        MSU- 13-12, 8-7, Montana- 12-11, 7-7
SERIES:             Montana 78-28
LAST MTG:      Feb. 2, 2019 - @Montana State 74, UM 52
TV:                     SWX Montana, Play-by-play: Riley Corcoran; Color Commentary: Krista Redpath. Pluto TV ch. 237
RADIO:             1450 KMMS AM – Play-by-play: Jason Alvine

NEXT UP: The Bobcat women's basketball team will travel to Missoula to face rival Montana on Saturday, Feb. 23 at 2 p.m. in Dahlberg Arena. MSU won the first meeting in the Brawl of the Wild series on Feb. 2 74-52 in Bozeman.

ON A SERIES NOTE: Despite Montana owning a sizeable 78-28 lead in its all-time series with the Bobcats dating back to the 1974-75 season, the Bobcats have claimed six of the last eight games from the Lady Griz. Last season, each team won on its home floor as MSU posted an 81-64 victory in Worthington Arena on Jan. 20, before Montana returned the favor 87-63 in Missoula. This season, the Cats handed the Lady Griz a 74-52 setback on Feb. 2 in Worthington Arena. It was the largest margin of victory for MSU in the rivalry. Oliana Squires paced the Bobcats in the win with 20 points and nine assists. Head Coach Tricia Binford is 11-19 all-time against Montana in 14 years.

STAT OF THE WEEK: In the last two minutes of its last ten games the Bobcats are 21-25 from the free throw line - shooting 84 percent. On the season, the Cats are shooting 75.1 percent, led by Oliana Squires at 90.9 percent.

THAT WAS THE GAME THAT WAS:
    Madeline Smith posted ten points in the first quarter and finished with a career-high 25 points to guide Montana State to a 72-59 victory over Weber State on Saturday afternoon in Worthington Arena.
    The junior from Snohomish, Wash., went four-of-four from the field and was two-of-two at the line to get Montana State (13-12, 8-7) out to a quick seven-point lead at the midway mark of the opening period. Weber State (5-20, 2-13) got the margin down to three points heading into the second frame.
    MSU built its largest lead of the first half at 37-25 following a pair of Martha Kuderer free throws at the 4:07 mark. The Wildcats closed out the quarter on a 15-6 run to trail the Bobcats 43-40 at intermission.
    "I thought we really set the tone early going into the interior and Madeline and Blaire (Braxton) were fantastic," said MSU head coach Tricia Binford. "Their stat-line together was outstanding and they didn't skip a beat working really hard getting a low block position."
    Smith and Braxton combined for 20 points in the first half, shooting 88.9 percent from the field. As a team, MSU hit at a 55.2 percent clip.
    The Bobcats opened the second half on an 11-3 run sparked by nine straight points from Smith. MSU held a nine-point advantage going into the fourth quarter. In the final stanza, the Bobcats built its largest lead at 72-54 on a Tori Martell three-pointer with 5:16 remaining.
    Smith ended the game shooting nine-of-12 from the field and seven-of-eight from the line. Also in double-figures were Kuderer 12 and Oliana Squires 11.
    MSU held a 42-31 advantage under the glass as Smith and Squires each grabbed a team-high seven rebounds. Squires posted a solid stat-line adding six assists and three steals, while backcourt mate Martell recorded six points, five rebounds, four steals and two assists.
    "Oli (Oliana) and Tori were key pieces of our zone and they had to be super active," Binford said. "A lot of Weber State's shooting came from the top position and they had to know where the shooters were and stay at home. Offensively, you have to get post touches from somewhere, and they were the ones that really ran our offense and got us going."

MORE ON THE LADY GRIZ: Montana swept a pair of Big Sky home games last weekend defeating Weber State 64-56 on Thursday, before upsetting Idaho State 60-59 on Saturday afternoon. The Lady Griz enter Saturday's contest with Montana State 12-11 overall and 7-7 in league play. UM sits 1/2 game back of MSU in sixth place as the two rivals, along with Eastern Washington, battle for the fifth and final first-round bye at the BSC Tournament. While the Bobcats will play just one game this week, the Lady Griz will travel to Northern Colorado on Monday. Montana has three players averaging in double-figures led by Jace Henderson at 11.6 points per game. McKenzie Johnston and Gabi Harrington chip in 11.5 and 11.3 points per game, respectively.

PRESEASON WNIT: MSU played in the preseason WNIT for the first time in its history. The Cats fell at #19 Marquette 100-52 in Milwaukee on Nov. 9. MSU rebounded to win its consolation pod defeating Delaware 69-60 and Texas State 67-59. Marquette went on to defeat Northern Iowa 102-61, before falling to Miami 63-55 in the semifinals. Iowa State captured the WNIT title with a 75-52 win over Miami.

HOLY MOLY, OLI: Oliana Squires is averaging 10.6 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 16 of MSU's 25 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 tallied 11 points, seven rebounds, six assists and three steals in MSU's win over Weber State.

KUDERER'S KUDOS: Martha Kuderer, who sat out last season after transferring from Seton Hall, is averaging 10.0 points and 5.1 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 11 occasions. After sitting out the Montana and Northern Colorado games under concussion protocol, Kuderer paced MSU in its win at Eastern Washington on Feb. 7 with a team-high 16 points, which included a seven-of-seven effort from the line. On Saturday, Kuderer had 12 points and five rebounds in Montana State's win over Weber State.

BOUNDING WITH BLAIRE: Blaire Braxton pulled down a season-high 13 rebounds in Montana State's win over Eastern Washington on Feb.7 in Cheney. 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 517 rebounds is currently 19th all-time at Montana State. Braxton leads the Bobcats in rebounding averaging 5.8 per game. Offensively, she is shooting 59 percent from the field, which is tops on the team. Her 6.6 points per game average is up 2.9 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. Braxton has notched 93 career blocks, which is seventh all-time at MSU. On Saturday, she saw 19 minutes of action in MSU's win over Weber State and recorded eight points on four-of-five shooting. She also pulled down four rebounds.

MAD ABOUT YOU: Madeline Smith is currently averaging 8.3 points and 5.0 rebounds per game. The product of Snohomish, Wash., registered a career-high 25 points in MSU's win over Weber State on Saturday. Smith connected on 9-of-12 from the field against the Wildcats and was 7-of-8 from the line. Smith has been in double-figure scoring on ten occasions. On Thursday night against Idaho State, Smith came off the bench to register 11 points.

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 just under 20 minutes per contest. On the season, the duo has combined to shoot an impressive 58.4 percent (149-255) 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 18 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 6.4 points and 4.3 rebounds in Big Sky play. Wright registered 11 points against Idaho State on Thursday night with seven coming in the first half. On Saturday, she posted seven points, six rebounds and four assists in MSU's win over Weber State.

TORI, TORI, TORI: Tori Martell has connected on 35 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 7.7 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 Idaho State on Thursday night, she recorded a team-high 12 points, including three 3-pointers. Martell registered six points, five rebounds and four steals against Weber St.

FEET TO THE FIRE: Freshman Gabby Mocchi has played in all 25 games and is averaging 3.3 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 31 assists, while adding 13 steals. The Helena High product is averaging 11.3 minutes per game. Hilborn had a season-best five points at EWU. Brynley Fitzgerald has played in 12 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 42 of its last 48 games in The Brick. The Bobcats are averaging 2,093 fans per game, which includes a sold out crowd of 6,772 against Carroll College on Nov. 6. MSU is ranked 66th in the nation in attendance.