Cats Hold Off Hungry Hornets

Thursday, January 25

BOZEMAN

7 p.m.

Montana State University

10-10,4-3Big Sky

Sacramento State

1-17,0-7Big Sky

Team	1	2	3	4	F
Sacramento St.	7	13	11	23	54
Montana St.	15	19	14	12	60

Freshman Malea Egan had six points, six rebounds and five steals in MSU's win over Sacramento State on Thursday night.

Photo by: Bobcat Creative Services

1/25/2024 10:21:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

“I’m very thankful Malea Egan showed up and was attack-minded on both ends of the floor,” Binford said. “We need an entire roster of that.”

By: Tom Schulz

Montana State held off a late charging Sacramento State squad to post a 60-54 win over the Hornets on Thursday night in Worthington Arena.

Montana state (10-10, 4-3) owned a 19-point cushion 30 seconds into the final frame, but Sacramento State (1-17, 0-7) connected on 11-19 shots, while MSU went one-of-12 from the field. The Hornets chipped the Bobcat margin to five points with 19 seconds remaining, outscoring MSU 23-12 in the quarter.

"Sacramento State is hungry and they're competing really hard," said MSU head coach Tricia Binford. "But I want to focus on us, and we were not focused to go. We played very poor on both ends of the floor."

The Bobcats held a 34-20 lead at intermission as freshman Natalie Picton produced seven points, while Taylor Janssen and Issy Bunyan added six.

MSU took its largest lead at 50-31 with nine minutes, 31 seconds left in the fourth on two-of-three free throws from Madison Hall. Hall, a fifth-year senior from Parma, Idaho went five-of-seven at the line, while the Bobcats as a team converted 10-15 at the stripe in the final ten minutes. MSU's lone basket in the period was a layup by freshman Malea Egan.

"I'm very thankful Malea Egan showed up and was attack-minded on both ends of the floor," Binford said. "We need an entire roster of that."

Egan, a 5-6 guard from Colstrip, finished with a season-high six points and six rebounds. She also added a game-best five steals and had an assist.

Marah Dykstra led MSU with her first career double-double of 12 points and a career-best 14 rebounds. Also in double digits were Janssen and Hall with 11 each. Picton ended with nine points.

The Bobcats shot 30.3% for the game, including just 20.7% in the second half. Montana State finished 19-28 from the line and outrebounded the Hornets 48-40.

Montana State hosts Portland on Saturday at 2 p.m.