No. 24 Gonzaga’s First Half Too Much for Bobcat Women

Friday, November 21

BOZEMAN

7 p.m.

Montana State University

1-2

# 24 Gonzaga University

3-0

Gonzaga

Montana State

Jasmine Hommes recorded a team-high 11 points and pulled down three rebounds against No. 24 Gonzaga, Friday night.

Photo by: R. Dean Hendrickson

11/21/2014 10:15:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

“We got into a flow and started trusting the game plan,” Binford said. “We had good energy and made plays. It was nice to come out of halftime and throw the first punch. We have to believe that we’re capable of playing with a team of this caliber. I’m really proud of the way we responded in the second half.”

By: Tom Schulz

No. 24 Gonzaga scored the first 17 points in the first three-minutes, 39-seconds and never looked back; en route to an 89-60 win over Montana State, Friday night in front of 1,517 in Worthington Arena.

"We waited around to see what they were going to do," MSU Head Coach Tricia Binford said. "It was a very similar start to the Boise game in that we were seeing if we could play with them.

"Give Gonzaga credit," Binford added. "They took the ball out of Hannah's (Caudill) hands. They used their size to their advantage and knocked down some threes and it was an up-hill battle from there."

Gonzaga (3-0) built its largest lead at intermission with a 51-18 cushion. Montana State (1-2) shot just 24 percent in the opening stanza, while the Bulldogs hit at a 59 percent clip.

The second half was a much different story for MSU as the Bobcats whittled the lead down to 16-points via a 29-12 run over the first ten minutes. Junior Lindsay Stockton accounted for eight of MSU's opening 12 points to begin the second stanza.

"We got into a flow and started trusting the game plan," Binford said. "We had good energy and made plays. It was nice to come out of halftime and throw the first punch. We have to believe that we're capable of playing with a team of this caliber. I'm really proud of the way we responded in the second half."

Montana State outscored Gonzaga 42-38 in the second half shooting 53 percent from the field. The Bobcats went just 9-18 from the line and committed 17 turnovers. The Zags also finished with a sizeable 45-27 edge in rebounding.

Montana State had two players in double-figures led by Jasmine Hommes with 11 and Stockton with ten. Alexa Dawkins finished with nine points and a team-high eight rebounds.

Gonzaga had four players in double-digits paced by Shelby Cheslek with 16 points and nine rebounds.

Montana State will host Seattle U on Sunday at 2 p.m. in Worthington Arena.