Thursday, January 2
BOZEMAN
7 p.m.
Montana State University
vs
Idaho
Bobcats Host Vandals in Big Sky Opener
12/31/2024 4:18:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Montana State opens its 2025 Big Sky schedule this week.
NEXT UP: Montana State opens its 2025 Big Sky schedule this week. The Bobcats face Idaho, Thursday, Jan. 2 at 7 p.m., and close out the weekend against reigning Big Sky champion Eastern Washington on Saturday at 2 p.m. Both games tip in Worthington Arena.
ABOUT THE BOBCATS: Montana State is 10-2 overall after going 3-0 on its pre-Christmas road swing to Florida and Puerto Rico. The trip was highlighted by a 58-49 victory at Florida Gulf Coast University - snapping the Eagles' 37-game home court win streak.
ABOUT THE VANDALS: Idaho is 8-3 overall, which includes a 4-2 mark on the road.
ABOUT THE EAGLES: Eastern Washington is 4-8 overall and in search of its first road win.
NO PLACE LIKE HOME: Over the past 10 seasons the Bobcats have thrived in the warm confines of Worthington Arena. Since the 2014-15 season, Montana State has gone an impressive 106-27 (79.7%) overall and 74-18 (80.4%) in Big Sky Conference play on its home court. From the start of the 2015-16 Big Sky season to the beginning of 2017-18 in league play- MSU rattled off a 19-game home court win streak. In her 20 seasons at Montana State, Bobcat head coach Tricia Binford is 176-76 (69.8%) overall and 116-51 (69.5%) in Big Sky play in Worthington Arena.
SO MUCH WINNING: In the last five seasons, no Big Sky Conference team has won more league games than the Bobcats. Montana State has racked up 69 Big Sky wins since the 2019-20 campaign. They are followed in the top five by Northern Arizona (60), Idaho (57), Idaho State (56), and Montana (56).
300 CLUB: With its 75-60 win over Weber State on Feb. 9, 2023, MSU head coach Tricia Binford notched her 309th career win, moving her past former Weber State bench boss Carla Taylor (308 -23 years). With MSU's 92-84 victory at Eastern Washington on Dec. 31, 2022, Binford became just the third coach in Big Sky history to record 300 wins- all coming as a member of the league. Binford is second to Montana's Robin Selvig (865, 38 years). In Big Sky play, Binford is second to Selvig (358) with 207 victories. Binford is MSU's winningest coach - men/women. This season marks Binford's 19th with the Bobcat program. She is currently 339-251 overall and 207-127 in Big Sky Conference play.
COLLEGEINSIDER.COM MID MAJOR TOP 25: Montana State made its debut in the 2024-25 CollegeInsider.com Mid Major Top 25 poll on Dec. 18. After defeating Florida Gulf Coast, the Bobcats came in at No. 17. Last week, Montana State moved up two sports to No. 15, and this week, stays at No. 15, with 308 total points. Harvard sits atop the poll with 752 points, followed by South Dakota State (740). Northern Arizona is also in the top 25 at No. 21 with 179 points. FGCU (16) and ORU (20) are also listed.
WE'RE BACK: Seniors Lexi Deden and Taylor Janssen made their first appearances of the season at the Puerto Rico, Clasio, Dec. 19-20, in San Juan. Deden, a forward from Missoula, was lost to a knee injury last season in the fourth quarter of MSU's contest against James Madison at the Cancun Challenge over Thanksgiving. She had been averaging a team-best 13.8 points and 8.3 rebounds per game. Last week, Deden averaged 7.3 minutes of action and recorded six points and four rebounds. She had four points and two rebounds in MSU's win over Presbyterian. Taylor Janssen, a 6-3 forward from Rosemount, Minn., also missed the first 12 games coming back from a leg injury. Janssen averaged 9.8 minutes in Puerto Rico. She registered four points in MSU's win over Presbyterian.
BOBCAT NOTEBOOK:
ABOUT THE BOBCATS: Montana State is 10-2 overall after going 3-0 on its pre-Christmas road swing to Florida and Puerto Rico. The trip was highlighted by a 58-49 victory at Florida Gulf Coast University - snapping the Eagles' 37-game home court win streak.
ABOUT THE VANDALS: Idaho is 8-3 overall, which includes a 4-2 mark on the road.
ABOUT THE EAGLES: Eastern Washington is 4-8 overall and in search of its first road win.
NO PLACE LIKE HOME: Over the past 10 seasons the Bobcats have thrived in the warm confines of Worthington Arena. Since the 2014-15 season, Montana State has gone an impressive 106-27 (79.7%) overall and 74-18 (80.4%) in Big Sky Conference play on its home court. From the start of the 2015-16 Big Sky season to the beginning of 2017-18 in league play- MSU rattled off a 19-game home court win streak. In her 20 seasons at Montana State, Bobcat head coach Tricia Binford is 176-76 (69.8%) overall and 116-51 (69.5%) in Big Sky play in Worthington Arena.
SO MUCH WINNING: In the last five seasons, no Big Sky Conference team has won more league games than the Bobcats. Montana State has racked up 69 Big Sky wins since the 2019-20 campaign. They are followed in the top five by Northern Arizona (60), Idaho (57), Idaho State (56), and Montana (56).
300 CLUB: With its 75-60 win over Weber State on Feb. 9, 2023, MSU head coach Tricia Binford notched her 309th career win, moving her past former Weber State bench boss Carla Taylor (308 -23 years). With MSU's 92-84 victory at Eastern Washington on Dec. 31, 2022, Binford became just the third coach in Big Sky history to record 300 wins- all coming as a member of the league. Binford is second to Montana's Robin Selvig (865, 38 years). In Big Sky play, Binford is second to Selvig (358) with 207 victories. Binford is MSU's winningest coach - men/women. This season marks Binford's 19th with the Bobcat program. She is currently 339-251 overall and 207-127 in Big Sky Conference play.
COLLEGEINSIDER.COM MID MAJOR TOP 25: Montana State made its debut in the 2024-25 CollegeInsider.com Mid Major Top 25 poll on Dec. 18. After defeating Florida Gulf Coast, the Bobcats came in at No. 17. Last week, Montana State moved up two sports to No. 15, and this week, stays at No. 15, with 308 total points. Harvard sits atop the poll with 752 points, followed by South Dakota State (740). Northern Arizona is also in the top 25 at No. 21 with 179 points. FGCU (16) and ORU (20) are also listed.
WE'RE BACK: Seniors Lexi Deden and Taylor Janssen made their first appearances of the season at the Puerto Rico, Clasio, Dec. 19-20, in San Juan. Deden, a forward from Missoula, was lost to a knee injury last season in the fourth quarter of MSU's contest against James Madison at the Cancun Challenge over Thanksgiving. She had been averaging a team-best 13.8 points and 8.3 rebounds per game. Last week, Deden averaged 7.3 minutes of action and recorded six points and four rebounds. She had four points and two rebounds in MSU's win over Presbyterian. Taylor Janssen, a 6-3 forward from Rosemount, Minn., also missed the first 12 games coming back from a leg injury. Janssen averaged 9.8 minutes in Puerto Rico. She registered four points in MSU's win over Presbyterian.
BOBCAT NOTEBOOK:
- Since the inception of women's basketball in the Big Sky Conference during the 1988-89 season the Bobcats are 21-15 in league openers, while Tricia Binford is 10-9 all-time. The Bobcats opened Big Sky play last season with a 58-56 home win over Idaho State.
- Montana State ranks 16th in the nation in turnover margin at 8.00. The Bobcats forced 48 turnovers against Chadron State and have caused 20 or more miscues in games against Troy (22), Cal Poly (26), UC Davis (21), East Carolina (29), Florida Gulf Coast (21) and P.R.-Mayaguez (25). The 8.00 stat is also tops in the Big Sky Conference.
- Montana State ranks 12th in the nation averaging 13.3 steals per game. The Bobcats posted a season-high 26 steals in its season opening win over Chadron State on Nov. 4. The mark was two shy of the all-time MSU mark of 28 steals against Montana Tech on Dec. 16, 2000. Currently, Col. of Charleston leads the nation averaging 15.4 per game.
- Marah Dykstra leads the Big Sky shooting 53.8% (63-117) from the field.
- Katelynn (Limardo) Martin scored her 1,000th career point on a three-pointer at the 1:22 mark of the first quarter in MSU's win over UCF (76-68) at the UNLV Thanksgiving Classic on Nov. 29. Martin became just the 27th Bobcat in history to reach the milestone.
- Katelynn (Limardo) Martin plays in her 132nd career game against Idaho on Thursday. Martin will tie former teammate Madison (Jackson) Hall for most games played at MSU.
- Sophomore Ella Johnson is second in the Big Sky averaging 1.4 blocks per game. That average also ranks 83rd in the nation. Johnson's 17 total blocks is second best in the league and ranks 84th at the NCAA Division I level.
- Esmeralda Morales has recorded 12 consecutive games with at least one 3-pointer. Her longest consecutive streak - 30 games - stretched from Feb. 18, 2023 to Feb. 8, 2024.
- Esmeralda Morales' career point total is 1,523 after scoring 28 on MSU's last road trip.
Players Mentioned
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