Ericka Magana’s 3-pointer banked off the glass and through the hoop. It seemed Sacramento State’s relentless shooting barrage would never end.
On the ensuing possession, Tricia Binford called a timeout with her team trailing by nine early in the second half. During the break, Montana State’s head coach looked each of her players in the eyes and challenged them. With senior captain Lindsay Stockton out with an injury, Binford desperately needed someone to rise to the occasion.
MSU forward Jasmine Hommes
Sac State built a 59-50 lead thanks to 16 made 3-pointers in the first 23 minutes of Saturday afternoon’s fast-paced affair. But after the crucial timeout, Montana State responded in resounding fashion, ratcheting up the defensive intensity, dominating the glass and slightly cooling the red-hot Hornets to post a 116-99 victory going away.
“I looked in their eyes and said someone needs to step up and be a leader for us,” Binford said. “I didn’t like our body language. We need to find people on the court who are going to be the answer.”
Brianna Burgos drilled nine 3-pointers, Maranne Johnson hit six more and Sacramento State tied its own Division I record by hitting 25 3-pointers in 65 attempts from beyond the arc.
But Montana State handled Sacramento State’s non-stop full-court trap with poise despite the absence of Stockton, leading to high percentage shots in bunches. Sophomore Hannah Caudill scored 13 points and dished out 10 assists, junior Margreet Barhoum came off the bench to score 13 points and dish out four assists, seven Bobcats scored in double figures and Montana State shot the lights out from wire to wire in setting a school record for points in a single game.
“When we were trailing by eight and we had that little timeout, Coach Bin looked at all of us and said, ‘one of you has to step up. Either you all have to or one of you needs to be a leader,” Caudill said. “We took it upon ourselves. We started locking down on defense. We closed the scoring gap and went from there.”
MSU Forward Peyton Ferris
Montana State shot at least 57 percent in all four quarters and 62.1 percent for the game. The Bobcats hit 41 of 66 from the floor and notched assists on 31 of the conversions. MSU hit its first nine 3-point tries and 9-of-11 overall.
“With this particularly team, you have to stay the course until they hit a cold spell, which they didn’t really get today,” Binford said. “We were able to respond really well after that timeout in the third quarter. That was a critical timeout. I wasn’t sure what direction our kids were going to head. We challenged them on who was going to be the leader at that point. Everybody stepped up.”
Junior Peyton Ferris led the scoring attack with 20 points on 10-of-13 shooting. Sophomore Delany Junkermier hit her first six 3-pointers and finished with a career-high 19 points. Senior Jasmine Hommes (14), Nordgaard (11) and senior Alexa Dawkins (10) each reached double figure scorer as Montana State moved to 10-1 in Big Sky Conference play, 17-5 overall.
“That game takes you back to the Class C style a little bit,” said Ferris, a Twin Bridges product and the Montana Gatorade Player of the Year four years ago. “It tests you. You can put up a lot of points on the board. They are a great team so it’s great to be able to have that performance against them.”
Sacramento State has definitive statistical goals each time it takes the court. Head coach Bunky Harkleroad wants his team to shoot 100 times, including 50 from beyond the arc. He wants to secure 40 percent of the possible offensive rebounds. And he wants to force 30 turnovers with their constant, unwavering full-court trapping press.
MSU guard Margreet Barhoum
On Saturday, Sac State cast 88 shots, including 65 from beyond the arc. The Hornets secured 22 offensive rebounds and snared 37.2 percent of possible misses. Despite Stockton’s absence, Montana State committed just 12 turnovers, the least forced by Sac State in Harkleroad’s three seasons at the helm.
“I felt really confident in this team because Hannah had such a great game against them last time and Greet (Barhoum) gave us great minutes against them last time,” Binford said. “I think we are in much more of a confident place. However, when we got rattled at that point, Lindsay is usually the answer. It was really exciting to see everyone else respond when they knew they couldn’t turn to her in that moment and it had to be them.”
The Hornets hit 14-of-35 shots from beyond the 3-point arc to take a 52-50 lead to halftime even though MSU shot 66.7 percent before intermission.
“We really didn’t play good defense in the first half,” Caudill said. “We missed box outs. We weren’t closing out on shooters. They are all shooters so we should know better. At halftime, our coaches gave it to us.”
After Binford’s timeout, MSU turned up the heat defensively as Riley Nordgaard had two of her four steals during a 15-0 MSU run that gave the Bobcats a 65-59 lead.
Sac State’s full court press in trap mode
“We really challenged our team in the third quarter and that’s a critical quarter for us and I have felt like that quarter has been a struggle for them,” Binford said. “We were on our home floor, our crowd was behind us and we have great depth. Even with Lindsay removed, we subbed in the leading assist person in the Big Sky and Margreet is someone who is in the natural rotation. We were able to keep fresh legs on the floor.”
Burgos buried a 3-pointers to give Sac a 70-69 lead before Caudill drilled two opposite corner 3-pointers as MSU ripped off a 14-2 run to extend the lead to 83-70 late in the third quarter. The Bobcats scored 10 straight, including a pair of Junkermier 3-pointers, as the MSU lead swelled to 95-77. The lead never dipped below 13 points thereafter.
“Games like this are fun,” Caudill said. “When you are playing in a fast-paced game, you don’t have time to set up your shot and make sure the mechanics are right. It’s not in your head. It’s like you are in the rec just messing around. That’s what it feels like. This was so much fun.”
Photos by Brooks Nuanez. All Rights Reserved.
