Johnson’s Career Night Lifts Bobcats to Win

Thursday, November 7

BOZEMAN

7 p.m.

Montana State University

2-0,0-0Big Sky

Troy

0-2,0-0Sun Belt

Troy

Montana St.

Marah Dykstra draws a foul from Troy's Brianna Jackson.

Photo by: Bobcat Creative Services

11/7/2024 10:32:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

“It started with everyone putting confidence in me,” Johnson said. “I stepped out of bounds the first two times, and my teammates told me to be confident and shoot the ball. And when I hit the first one, they trusted me and had faith me, so I had to show up for them.”

By: Tom Schulz

Ever since Montana State forward Ella Johnson first stepped foot on the Bozeman campus, Bobcat head coach Tricia Binford has been telling her to shoot the ball.

The sophomore from Elk River, Minn., answered the plea recording a career-high 14 points, including a four-of-five performance from long distance to lift MSU to a hard fought 73-63 win over Troy University on Thursday night in Worthington Arena.

"I'm really proud of Ella," Binford said. "Last year, I had to give her a nickname Ella 'Shoot the Ball' Johnson. And it's paying off for her. She was really shot ready and those were big threes for us to kind of give us a little bit of separation."

Twelve of Johnson's 14 points came in the second half, and all came from beyond the three-point arc. Her first triple gave Montana State (2-0) a 42-33 advantage in the opening moments of the second half. Her second three-pointer pushed MSU's lead to 10-points with two minutes left in the quarter.

In the final frame, Johnson hit from long distance to keep the Bobcat lead at ten, and her final triple with just over five minutes remaining gave MSU a 65-54 cushion and a lead it would never relinquish.

"It started with everyone putting confidence in me," Johnson said. "I stepped out of bounds the first two times, and my teammates told me to be confident and shoot the ball. And when I hit the first one, they trusted me and had faith me, so I had to show up for them."

Montana State built a 39-31 lead at halftime shooting 42.9% from the field. Marah Dykstra and Dylan Philip paced the Bobcats with nine and seven points, respectively.

The closest Troy (0-2) got to the Bobcats in the second half came with a little over seven minutes left in the third quarter. But MSU, like they did all night, had an answer. Senior Esmeralda Morales converted an old-fashion three-point play 30-seconds later and the Bobcats were able to hold a comfortable margin the remainder of the game.

"Troy has a very established program and were a very tough competitor," Binford said. "Coach Rigby has done a tremendous job and they're consistently fighting and playing in the postseason.

"They are very high pressure, and they are a tremendous challenge on the glass," she added. "What a gritty game for us to learn a little bit about ourselves and see how we respond in some situations, but I loved how we got instant sparks from everybody."

Dykstra matched Johnson with 14 points, while Morales added 11.

Troy held a 48-39 advantage under the boards. Freshman Taylee Chirrick led the Bobcats with a team-high nine rebounds.

Montana State hosts Cal Poly on Tuesday, Nov. 12 at 11 a.m. in its annual School Day game.