Cats Reach Midway Mark of Four-Game Road Gauntlet

NEXT UP: Montana State concludes its current four-game consecutive road gauntlet with a pair of contests this week beginning at Sacramento State, Thursday, Jan. 30 at 7:30 p.m. (MT) and concluding at Portland State, Saturday, Feb. 1 at 3 p.m. (MT) in the Rose City.

ABOUT THE BOBCATS: Montana State is 18-2 overall and 8-0 in Big Sky play after defeating Montana 67-66 in Missoula on Saturday. MSU has won 11 of the last 13 vs. UM.

ABOUT THE HORNETS: The Hornets are 10-10 overall and 3-4 in BSC action after splitting a pair of roads games- winning at Idaho State 72-63 and falling at Weber State 68-52.

ABOUT THE VIKINGS: The Vikings are 4-12 overall and 1-6 in Big Sky action after dropping a pair of leagues games at Weber State 62-48, and Idaho State, 66-52, last week.

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 77 Big Sky wins since the 2019-20 campaign. They are followed in the top five by Northern Arizona (67), Idaho (63), Montana (59), and Idaho State (58).

BOBCAT NOTEBOOK:

Montana State ranks 4th in the nation averaging 13.8 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, Longwood leads the nation averaging 15 per game.
Montana State ranks 8th in the nation in turnover margin at 9.20. The Cats forced 48 turnovers vs. Chadron State and have caused 20 or more turnovers on 11 occasions, including vs. Troy (22), Cal Poly (26), UC Davis (21), East Carolina (29), Florida Gulf Coast (21), P.R.-Mayaguez (25), Idaho (23), UNC (23), ISU (29), WSU (32), and EWU (32). Montana State's 23.55 turnovers forced per game ranks 10th in the nation.
In MSU's eight Big Sky games, the Bobcats have a positive assist/turnover ratio - 115 assists/104 turnovers-, while their Big Sky opponents have 98 assists/192 turnovers.
On Jan. 20, Taylee Chirrick recorded a rare double-double with 12 points and a school record 11 steals at Eastern Washington. The 11 steals also matched the Big Sky single-season record, last set in 2016. Chirrick ranks 13th in the country with 60 steals, which is also the best mark by a freshman at the NCAA Division-1 level. Her 11 steals are second to Erskine's Evangelia Paulk's 13 steals set on Jan. 2.
Montana State is 17-0 this season when leading after the third quarter.
Montana State is 17-0 this season when holding its opponents under 70 points.
Katelynn Martin is the fourth Bobcat in history to go over 200 three-point makes (201) in a career. She trails Katie Bussey (254), Hannah Caudill (231) and Tori Martell (211).
700 Club: MSU has three players hovering in the 700s for career points - Taylor Janssen 741, Marah Dykstra 733, and Lexi Deden 715.
For her career, Esmeralda Morales has 1,651 points, 252 3-pt. makes and shoots 85.7% at the line.

300 CLUB: With MSU's 75-60 win over Weber State on Feb. 9, 2023, Tricia Binford notched her 309th career win moving her past former Weber State coach 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 (at one school). Binford is second all-time to Montana's Robin Selvig (865, 38 years). In Big Sky play, Binford is second to Selvig (358) with 214 victories. Binford is MSU's winningest coach - men or women. This season marks Binford's 20th with the Bobcat program. She is currently 347-251 overall and 215-127 in Big Sky action.

COLLEGEINSIDER.COM MID MAJOR TOP 25: For the sixth consecutive week, Montana State is ranked in the CollegeInsider.com Mid Major top 25 coaches' poll. This week the Cats remained at No. 13 with 425 points. Florida Gulf Coast, who MSU defeated 58-49 in Fort Myers on Dec. 16, is listed No. 9 (497). Big Sky rival Northern Arizona is listed at No. 18 with 239 points. Oral Roberts, who handed the Bobcats one of its two losses (82-80 overtime) as part of the Big Sky/Summit League Challenge in Tulsa, Okla., is listed in 'others receiving votes' (42). South Dakota State remains at No. 1 receiving 773 points (29 first-place votes). The Bobcats have a higher NET ranking than four teams listed above them, including #4 Grand Canyon (68), #7 Norfolk State (103), #11 Quinnipiac (99) and #12 Portland (71).

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Players Mentioned

Taylee Chirrick

Lexi Deden

Marah Dykstra

Taylor Janssen

Katelynn Martin

Esmeralda Morales

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