The confines of Brick Breeden Fieldhouse are as friendly as ever for the Montana State women’s basketball team.
The Bobcats posted another sweep last weekend. MSU posted an 84-80 win over Sacramento State on Thursday and earning an 83-76 win over Portland State on Saturday in front of a season-high 2,284 fans to move to 6-2 in Big Sky Conference play. Montana State is now 13-5 overall, a record that includes eight home wins in eight outings this season.
MSU is 21-1 over the last two seasons at the Brick, including racking up 20 home victories in a row. The streak is the fifth-longest in the nation trailing only UConn, Baylor, South Dakota and UCLA.
“It’s not about the streak, it’s just about protecting the home court,” Montana State 12th-year head coach Tricia Binford said on Tuesday afternoon. “We understand to have a chance of winning the conference, you definitely have to win the home games and give yourselves the best shot on the road. We take a lot of pride in protecting the Brick and we have to give credit to our amazing atmosphere. We’ve had tremendous crowds, particularly on Saturday.”
MSU forward Riley Nordgaard (15) fights for a loose ball with Sac St. forward Gretchen Harringan (24)
The Bobcats used the spark provided by senior Riley Nordgaard and the momentum offered by the energy of the home crowd to earn a sweep over two talented teams despite not playing their best basketball last weekend to remain in the hunt for a second straight Big Sky title.
“We are used to hitting shots on our home court,” said MSU senior Margreet Barhoum, a key backup guard for the Bobcats. “We really put a big emphasis on protecting the Brick. Coach Bin always emphasizing protecting the Brick, protect your home court and we really take that to heart. It’s funny because I don’t really think the team knows we are 20 games in. We kind of keep that on the low so it doesn’t mess with our heads but now that we do know, we will take even more pride.”
Montana State led wire-to-wire against Sacramento State, pushing the lead to as many as 16. But a late Hornets’ spurt thanks to Sac’s high-pressure defense made the game a single-digit affair for most of the fourth quarter. Against Portland State, Montana State shot just 40.3 percent but hit a season-high 13 3-pointers, including six by Nordgaard, who finished with 25 points two nights after scoring a career-high 26 points. The Vikings shot 50.8 percent but crucial defensive stops throughout the fourth quarter lifted MSU to its sixth conference win.
“You always play off that energy,” Binford said. “When you are making a run or making a defensive stop, our kids play off of that. They feel that energy at the Fieldhouse and they feel that crowd behind them.”
Montana State’s school record is 23 straight home wins set between 2001 and 2003. But the Bobcats will have to wait until next month to extend the streak.
Montana State senior Margreet Barhoum
MSU hits the road for the first of three straight away from the Brick on Thursday in Moscow at Idaho. Montana State plays at Eastern Washington on Saturday. The Bobcats complete the three-game swing with a matchup in Missoula on the afternoon on Saturday, February 5.
“One area we do want to grow in is the Saturday contests on the road,” Binford said. “We have been a little more fatigued on the glass and we want to find ways to have that energy, sustain that Saturday run. For us, a lot of that effort has influenced our wins and losses.
While Montana State is 8-0 at home this season, the Bobcats are 5-5 away from Bozeman, including 2-2 in Big Sky play. MSU won its first road game of Big Sky play at Weber State 83-68 but lost two days later at Idaho State, 67-59. The Bobcats swept EWU and Idaho at home before earning a 74-71 win at North Dakota to push its win streak to three. Two nights after the UND victory, Montana State lost 66-58 at first-place Northern Colorado.
“It has been some weird games on the road,” said Barhoum, who has 13 assists in about 10 minutes a game during BSC play. “I can’t figure out exactly why we lost those games but those are winnable games so I think this is the weekend.”
Montana State needed overtime and 30 points from senior power forward Peyton Ferris to earn an 88-83 victory over EWU in Bozeman on January 5. Idaho, one of the more prolific 3-point shooting teams in the league, hit just 8-of-36 (22.2 percent) from deep in MSU’s 80-64 win on January 7.
Thursday, MSU takes on a Vandals team that has won three of four since the loss in Bozeman.
“There are still opponents on our schedule who we have not faced yet (Southern Utah, Montana, Northern Arizona) but this week, strategically will be about how you adjust, what worked, what things you want to compliment from the last time around,” Binford said. “That does give you some familiarity going onto the road.”
Idaho guard Mikayla Ferenz
Idaho guard Mikayla Ferenz has carried the momentum of her Big Sky Tournament MVP honor as a true freshman — Idaho won the league tournament to advance to the NCAA Tournament — into her sophomore season. She led UI six times in scoring during the non-conference, including a 34-point outburst in a 74-71 win over Wyoming.
Ferenz scored 19 points in Bozeman but finished just 6-of-20 from the floor and 3-of-12 from beyond the arc. Since then, she has been red hot. She hit five 3s and scored 28 points in a 95-77 win over Weber State; She scored 22 in a 67-60 loss to Idaho State.
Saturday against NAU, she caught fire like never before, drilling 15 of her 17 shots from the floor, including nine of her 10 tries from distance. Her 41 points tied Montana’s Shannon Cate (1991), Portland State’s Kelsey Kahle (2007), Montana State’s Katie Bussey (2012) and NAU’s Amy Patton (2012) for the Big Sky’s all-time single-game record.
“You don’t give her any open looks from three unless it’s off the dribble,” Binford said. “The only three you want to give her is forcing her off the bounce. She will hit some of those as well but we don’t want the rhythm of uncontested threes, particularly in transition.”
February 11 and 13 of 2016 marks the last time Montana State swept a road trip. Nearly a year ago, the Bobcats won back-to-back games at NAU and Southern Utah during a similar stretch MSU faces now. After that sweep, the Bobcats went to Missoula and lost 70-66 to the Lady Griz. That loss sparked a free fall for the Big Sky champions as MSU lost five of seven down the stretch during an otherwise banner year. MSU hopes to buck the trend, starting this weekend.
“For us to have success on the road, we know we have to be better on Saturdays,” Binford said. “We need to find that mental edge of bringing the energy from home with us on the road.”
Photos by Brooks Nuanez. All Rights Reserved.
