Balanced Cat Attack Trees Lady Griz

Saturday, January 20

BOZEMAN

2 p.m.

Montana State University

4-310-8/ Big Sky

Montana

5-29-9/ Big Sky

Montana

Montana State

Sophomore Oliana Squires converts for two against the Lady Griz.

Photo by: R. Dean Hendrickson

1/20/2018 6:15:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

“I thought it was a fantastic game start to finish,” said MSU head coach Tricia Binford. “We competed as a team and were able to handle the atmosphere of the arena from the start. Our offensive balance was tremendous and we had good production across the board.”

By: Tom Schulz

Montana State had four players in double-figures led by Delany Junkermier with 16 points to cruise past Montana 81-64 on Saturday afternoon in front of 4,017 fans in Worthington Arena. The victory was MSU's third straight over the Lady Griz in the storied rivalry.

"I thought it was a fantastic game start to finish," said MSU head coach Tricia Binford. "We competed as a team and were able to handle the atmosphere of the arena from the start. Our offensive balance was tremendous and we had good production across the board."

After an even first quarter, Montana State (10-8, 4-3) used a 9-0 run midway through the second frame to pull away from Montana (9-9, 5-2). The run included points from four different Bobcats, topped by a Hannah Caudill three-pointer.

Montana State took a 35-23 lead into intermission behind 11 points from Junkermier.

MSU opened the third stanza on a 9-4 run taking a 44-27 lead at the 7:12 mark on a layup via Rebekah Hatchard. Montana never challenged the remainder of the game, as MSU built it largest margin at 70-47 with 6:36 remaining on a Blaire Braxton layup.

"I thought our spacing was great and we were able to shoot it pretty well," Caudill said. "Our posts did an awesome job and overall our offense just clicked."

Also scoring in double-figures for the Bobcats were Hatchard and Caudill with 14 points, apiece, while Oliana Squires finished with 11 points.
MSU's post duo of Braxton and Madeline Smith combined for 15 points and 14 rebounds. Braxton notched a season-best eight points.

The Cats held a slight 41-40 advantage under the boards paced by Smith with 10 rebounds.

For the game, MSU shot 44.1 percent from the field and connected on 11-of-26 from long distance. The Bobcat defense held the Lady Griz to 38.1 percent, including an icy 18.8 percent from beyond the three-point line.

The Bobcats also dished out 18 assists, paced by Caudill with a team-high six assists. With her six assists, Caudill passed Erica Perry (2006-10) for fourth on MSU's all-time career list with 426 assists. She is now just 18 assists away from breaking Vicki Heebner-Carle's (1980-84) all-time mark of 443.

Montana was paced in the loss by McKenzie Johnston with 13 points and seven rebounds.

Montana State will play at Northern Arizona next Thursday in Flagstaff.