Fresh Off Win Over Lady Griz, Bobcats Host Northern Colorado Monday at 6 PM

Monday, February 4

BOZEMAN

6 p.m.

Montana State University

Northern Colorado

Buy Tickets

Photo by: R. Dean Hendrickson

Fresh Off Win Over Lady Griz, Bobcats Host Northern Colorado Monday at 6 PM

2/3/2019 3:14:00 PM | Women's Basketball

WBB NOTES

The Bobcat women’s basketball team will play the second of four games within a seven-day span when it hosts Northern Colorado on Monday night.

By: Tom Schulz

WHO:               Northern Colorado at Montana State
WHEN:             Monday, Feb. 4, 2019 @ 6 p.m. (MT)
WHERE:           Bozeman, Mont. - Shroyer Gym (1,500)
RECORDS:        MSU- 11-9, 6-4, No. Colorado- 13-6, 8-2
SERIES:             Series is tied 13-13
LAST MTG:      January 14, 2019 - MSU 79, @UNC 66
RADIO:             My 103.5 KZMY FM, Jason Alvine on play-by-play
VIDEO:              Live streaming on Pluto TV 238 or Watch BigSky.com

NEXT UP: The Bobcat women's basketball team will play the second of four games within a seven-day span when it hosts Northern Colorado on Monday night. Due to another event in Worthington Arena the game against the Bears has been moved to Shroyer Gym and will tipoff at 6 p.m. Following its games with UNC, MSU will travel to Eastern Washington on Thursday and the University of Idaho on Saturday afternoon to cap a busy week.

ON A SERIES NOTE: Thanks to its 79-66 win over Northern Colorado in Greeley on Jan. 14, the series between the two Big Sky rivals is even at 13-13. Northern Colorado has had the upper-hand in the all-time series winning seven of the last ten meetings. The Bobcats snapped a four-game losing streak to the Bears three weeks ago as Tori Martell notched a career-high 19 points in the win. The two teams first met on Feb. 22, 1980 - an 88-71 Bobcat win.

STAT OF THE WEEK: Montana State's 22-point margin of victory over Montana was its largest over the Lady Griz in the history of the rivalry. The Cats held a 29-point lead at 74-45 with 4:41 remaining in the game.

THAT WAS THE GAME THAT WAS:
    If she wasn't scoring it, she was distributing it.
    Montana State's Oliana Squires posted a game-high 20 points and dished out eight assists as the Bobcats knocked off Montana 74-52 on Saturday afternoon in Worthington Arena. The 22-point margin of victory for the Bobcats was the largest in its rivalry with the Lady Griz.
    Montana State (11-9, 6-4) found itself down early as Montana (10-9, 5-5) got out to a 9-0 lead and held a 20-13 advantage after the first quarter.
    The Bobcats returned the favor in the second frame out-scoring the Lady Griz 21-7. MSU shot 42.9 percent from the field, while limiting UM to just 15.8 percent. The second period spark was led by a pair of freshmen as Halle Wright connected for six points, while Gabby Mocchi chipped in five.
    Montana State held a 34-27 lead at intermission.
    "All it takes is one play on the defensive end to get us started and from there we just got rolling," said MSU junior guard Oliana Squires. "Shots started going in and we focused in on defense and that led our offense."
    Squires paced MSU with nine points in the first half. In addition, the Bobcats out-rebounded UM 25-21 as Blaire Braxton patrolled the lane with five rebounds.
    The Bobcats pulled away from the Lady Griz midway through the third quarter as Claire Lundberg's layup at the 4:14 mark capped a 10-0 run.
    MSU built its largest lead at 74-45 with 4:41 remaining on Squires' fourth 3-pointer of the contest.
    Montana State post players Braxton and Madeline Smith each ended in double-figures. Braxton notched 13 points, while Smith came off the bench for 11. Combined, the duo shot 79 percent from the field.
    As a team, the Bobcats finished shooting 46.8 percent from the field, including an impressive 53 percent in the second half. MSU also won the battle of the boards, out-rebounding Montana 46-39. Lundberg pulled down a team-high seven boards, while Braxton finished with six.
    Montana was led by Sammy Fatkin with 13 points and five rebounds.

MORE ON THE BEARS: Northern Colorado will enter Monday night's game just 1/2 game back of Idaho State for the Big Sky Conference's top spot. The Bears have been idle since defeating Northern Arizona on Jan. 26 63-53 in Greeley - a nine day hiatus. Northern Colorado is 13-6 overall and 8-2 in league action. Their two losses have come against Montana State (79-66) and Weber State (55-54), both in the Bank of Colorado Arena. UNC is under the direction of first-year head coach Jenny Huth. On the season, the Bears have been paced by reigning Big Sky Conference MVP Savannah Smith. The 5-6 senior point-guard from Fort Collings, Colo., is averaging 22.3 points per game in Big Sky action, while also racking-up 4.0 assists, 3.6 rebounds and 1.7 steals per game. Smith has also connected on 56 3-pointers. Also in double-digits for UNC is Alexis Chapman at 11.9 points per outing. Ali Meyer is pulling down a team-best 11.1 rebounds per contest

LAUDING LUNDBERG: Seton Hall transfer Claire Lundberg has made an immediate impact on the court. The Anoka High School product is sixth in the Big Sky averaging 17.2 points per contest. In addition, she is second in field-goals made (119), third in free throw percentage (87.5) and three-point field-goal percentage (39.2); fourth in three-pointers per game (2.45), 3-pointers made (49), points (343); fifth in 3-point field goals attempted (125) and field-goal percentage (43.1); and seventh in field-goals attempted (276). Lundberg opened the season hitting her first 22 attempts from the charity stripe, just three shy to the record held by Rebecca Mercer. On the season, Lundberg has been in double-digit scoring in 17 of 20 games, including seven games with 20 points or more. She posted a season-high 28 points in MSU's win over Delaware on Nov. 16. Lundberg was Big Sky Player of the Week for Nov. 20 after averaging 27 points and six rebounds as MSU knocked-off Delaware and Texas State in WNIT action. The native of Andover, Minn., threw a perfect game against Texas State on Nov. 17 hitting eight-of-eight from the field, four-of-four from long distance and six-of-six from the free throw line. In Montana State's win over Montana on Saturday, Lundberg recorded nine points, hauled down seven rebounds and added two assists in 35 minutes of action.

HOLY MOLY, OLI: Oliana Squires is averaging 11.1 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 13 of MSU's 20 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 Saturday, 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 also dished out a game-high eight assists to go along with five rebounds and a steal.

KUDERER'S KUDOS: Martha Kuderer, who sat out last season after transferring from Seton Hall, is averaging 9.8 points and 5.3 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 nine occasions. She sat out Saturday's game under concussion protocol.

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 19.5 minutes or more per contest. Braxton, a product of Highlands Ranch, Colo., is first on the team hauling down 5.8 rebounds per game, while Smith, from Snohomish, Wash., is third averaging 5.1 per contest. 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. She also pulled down a team-best eight rebounds and had a block. Smith registered a season-high 16 points against Northern Colorado knocking down seven-of-10 attempts to go along with seven rebounds. Smith has been in double-figure scoring on six occasions, while Braxton has five double-digit games. On the season, the duo has combined to shoot an impressive 58 percent (112-192) from the floor. The tandem had a solid effort in MSU's win over rival Montana as Braxton posted 13 points, while Smith came off the bench for 11.

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 13 straight since coming back. She had one of her best games of the season against Eastern Washington 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 6.1 points and 4.7 rebounds in Big Sky play. Wright posted nine points, five rebounds, two assists and a steal against Montana.

TORI, TORI, TORI: Tori Martell has connected on 28 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 7.1 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 Montana on Saturday, Martell recorded four points, five rebounds and two assists.

FEET TO THE FIRE: Freshman Gabby Mocchi has played in all 20 games and is averaging 3.0 ppg in Big Sky play. She matched a season-high eight points in MSU's win over Montana, which included a pair of triples. Mocchi also pulled down five boards in the victory. Freshman Kamden Hilborn has dished out 25 assists, while adding eleven steals. The Helena High product is averaging 11.9 minutes per game.

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

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 2,309 fans per game, which includes its sold out crowd of 6,772 against Carroll College on Nov. 6. MSU is ranked 52nd in the nation in attendance.