Cats Complete Season Sweep of Lumberjacks

Thursday, February 6

BOZEMAN

7 p.m.

Montana State University

21-2,11-0Big Sky

Northern Arizona

18-6,9-2Big Sky

Northern Ariz.

Montana St.

Bobcat senior Esmeralda Morales had a game-high 25 points to lead MSU to a 73-66 win over Northern Arizona, Thursday night in Worthington Arena.

Photo by: Brian Morse

2/6/2025 10:54:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

With its 14th consecutive victory, Montana State sits atop the league standings by two games over Northern Arizona.

By: Tom Schulz

Montana State overcame a slow start with a strong second quarter and an explosive third frame to post a 73-66 win over Northern Arizona in a battle for first in the Big Sky Conference, Thursday night in front of a raucous Worthington Arena crowd.

With its 14^th consecutive victory, Montana State (21-2, 11-0) sits atop the league standings by two games over Northern Arizona (18-6, 9-2).

The game mirrored the first contest between the two Big Sky rivals- an 87-81 Bobcat win in Flagstaff on Jan. 11. NAU jumped out to a 20-7 lead at the 2:02 mark on a Taylor Feldman three-point play. The Lumberjacks held a 22-14 lead after the opening ten minutes.

Montana State opened the second quarter on a 17-6 run and took its first lead at 31-28 at the 1:39 mark on a corner three by sophomore Natalie Picton. Senior Esmeralda Morales ignited the Bobcat faithful with a behind the back pass to Taylee Chirrick for a layup with 57-seconds remaining in the half and the Bobcats held a slim 33-32 advantage at intermission.

Morales recorded 13 points in the first half, while Chirrick added nine.

The Bobcats opened the third quarter on a 15-0 run taking a 48-32 lead at the 5:17 mark. Taylee Chirrick sparked the run accounting for final six points in a span of 34-seconds.

Montana State took its largest lead at 65-48 on a pair of Morales free throws with 7:30 left. NAU whittled the margin to eight points in the waning moments, but Katelynn Martin delivered the dagger with a three-pointer with 1:19 remaining to secure the Bobcat victory.

Morales finished with a game-high 25 points, which included a five-of-11 effort from long distance. Also, in double figures were Chirrick 15, Marah Dykstra 11, and Martin 10. Chirrick, who matched a career-high for points, pulled down a team-best ten rebounds to go with four steals. Dykstra ended with seven rebounds and three assists, while Morales chipped in four assists and three steals.

"My first thought was that Esme (Morales) was incredible," said MSU head coach Tricia Binford. "She took over the game, she took control of the court, she made big-time plays in clutch moments.

"Marah did Marah, KJ (Martin) did KJ, Taylee Chirrick was a monster on the glass," Binford added. "We rotated fresh legs, Addy Harris came in and gave us tremendous minutes, Natalie (Picton) gave us tremendous minutes, and our bench continues to produce."

The Bobcat bench outscored the Lumberjacks 25-13.

"NAU jumped on us early and got twice the amount of possessions with every rebound, and once we addressed that we were able to clean it up and then were able to get out and run a little bit."

The Bobcat defense held Sophie Glancey, the Big Sky's top scorer to seven points- just the third time this season the preseason MVP pick didn't register double figures. Feldman paced NAU with 17 points, while with Nyah and Olivia Moran each had ten.

Montana State hosts Northern Colorado Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m.