Disruptive Bobcats Stifle Bears

Thursday, February 8

BOZEMAN

7 p.m.

Montana State University

14-10,8-3Big Sky

Northern Colorado

10-11,5-5Big Sky

Northern Colo.

Montana St.

MSU's Madison Hall stuffs a layup attempt by UNC's Hannah Simental on Thursday night.

Photo by: Garrett Becker

2/8/2024 10:36:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

“I believe in my 19 years at Montana State this is the best defensive team I’ve coached,” said MSU head coach Trica Binford.

By: Tom Schulz

For the fifth time this season Montana State held an opponent under 50 points and on Thursday night in Worthington Arena the Bobcats held Northern Colorado to 32.5% shooting en route to a 61-40 win over the Bears. The UNC output was its lowest of the season and MSU's best effort on the defensive end of the floor.

"I believe in my 19 years at Montana State this is the best defensive team I've coached," said MSU head coach Trica Binford. "Our ball pressure was super consistent for the entire twenty minutes to start and it was one of our best defensive efforts of the season.

"We talked about defending the three-ball better and rebounding," Binford added. "Those two areas were significantly better from the first time we played at Northern Colorado. We were very disruptive, had a lot of deflections and forced turnovers. I've not seen any team this committed on the defensive end."

Montana State (14-10, 8-3) held Northern Colorado (10-11, 5-5) to six points in both the first and second quarters as the Bobcats took a 30-12 advantage into intermission.

Northern Colorado would get no closer than 15 points in the second half as fifth-year senior Madison Hall scored 14 of her game-high 19 points in the final twenty minutes to squelch any hopes of a UNC comeback. For the game Hall went seven-of-10 from the field and four-of-five at the line. The Parma, Idaho product also chipped in two rebounds, two steals and two blocked shots.

"Offensively, I thought we had great balance." Binford said. "Natalie (Picton) really ran the show well for us. She led us extremely well and I love what she's continuing to do, she's not forcing it, she took care of the ball and she found great shots for teammates."

Picton finished with six points and five assists.

Senior Taylor Janssen was a recipient of Picton's prowess, scoring a career-high 17 points. Also, in double digits was Marah Dykstra with 13.

For the game, MSU shot 45.5% from the field and converted 16-of-19 free throws. UNC finished shooting 32.5% from the floor and connected on 12-of-25 from the stripe. The Bears, who went 11-of-22 from three-point range in its win over the Bobcats on Jan. 13 in Greeley, connected on two-of-15 attempts from long distance on Thursday.

Montana State won the battle of the boards, outrebounding Northern Colorado 36-23. Katelynn Limardo led the Bobcats with seven rebounds, while Dykstra and Issy Bunyan added six apiece.

With the victory, the Bobcats equaled its longest winning streak of the season with five consecutive wins. During the span, MSU's defense has limited its opponents to 50.2 points per game.

MSU hosts Northern Arizona - the Big Sky Conference's top offensive team- on Saturday at 2 p.m. in Worthington Arena.