Tricia Binford and her staff have two travel itineraries ready for their team but the Bobcat coaching staff will only be handing out one at a time.
The Montana State women’s basketball team is gunning for its first-ever outright Big Sky Conference championship as it hits the road this weekend. Because of logistical and scheduling concerns, the trip will be extended significantly.
[restrict paid=”true”]The women’s Big Sky Tournament begins in Reno on Monday so the league elected to move all games up one day. Montana State will play at Northern Colorado on Wednesday evening and at North Dakota on Friday afternoon.
“It’s an exciting time,” said Binford, MSU’s 11th-year head coach. “We are trying to keep it short-term memory at this point. We are focused on finishing the regular season strong. We have an opportunity to win the Big Sky outright, which has never been done in our program.”
The two itineraries enter the picture because Montana State will not return to Bozeman. MSU caught a flight to Denver on Tuesday afternoon. The Bobcats will bus from Denver to Greeley and practice at UNC on Tuesday evening. The Bobcats will bus back to Denver after the game for a flight to Fargo before bussing to Grand Forks. Friday’s game at UND has a 2 p.m. tipoff because of a hockey game that night.
Montana State will bus from Grand Forks to Fargo on Friday and stay the night. Binford said the team will spend Saturday shopping and exploring Fargo before a Saturday evening flight takes the Bobcats from Fargo to Reno. MSU will arrive at the tournament venue on Saturday night and will not play its first-round game until Wednesday. Montana State has already sewed up one of the top two seeds in the tournament.
“For us, the challenge is going to be waiting,” Binford said. “I think that gets you a little antsy. But at the same time, that will get some butterflies out because we have a few days to just rest, watch some other games in action and get acclimated there. It’s 0-0 this time of year so we have to refocus.”
The tournament opens on Monday with games at 12:05 p.m., 2:35 p.m., 5:35 p.m. and 8:05 p.m. The to be determined fifth seed will play the 12 seed, the sixth-seed will play the 11, the seventh seed will play the 10 and the eighth place team will play the ninth. The men’s tournament on Tuesday follows the same format. The top four women’s teams receive first-round byes and will not play until Wednesday and the men’s top four teams will not play until Thursday.
“We are pretty mature and we have veterans,” Binford said of the prospects of her team watching the competition for a full day. “I think it’s a chance to look at a scouting report live. We’ve got a lot of high IQ kids that like those opportunities. I think they will see some things they can utilize.”
The Bobcats are 21-6 overall and 14-2 in Big Sky play. One more MSU win or a loss by EWU will give the Bobcats its first title since 2003. A win and an EWU loss or two MSU wins will hand Montana State its first-ever outright title. The Bobcat women shared the title in 1993, 2002 and 2003.
MSU cruised for weeks, posting wins by a Big Sky-best margin of more than 13 points per game until a 70-66 loss to Montana in Missoula on February 20. The Bobcats bounced back with a 92-71 win over Weber State on Thursday before Idaho State took MSU down to the wire before falling 82-80 in overtime.
“The last few games have grabbed our attention to get back to areas we’ve been great at,” Binford said. “We were locked in for practice yesterday. We are ready to try to win the Big Sky Conference this next week.”
Against Weber, Peyton Ferris set a school record by hitting 16 of her 17 field goal attempts on the way to 33 points. She scored a team-high 22 points against Idaho State. She earned Big Sky Player of the Week honors.
The junior caught the virus that has been going through the Bobcat roster the last few weeks. She did not practice Monday and her status for this weekend “is unconfirmed at this point,” Binford said. A source close to the program said Ferris will not play against Northern Colorado but could meet the team in Grand Forks. The Twin Bridges product will be in Reno for the duration.
MSU junior Riley Nordgaard went down with an injury to her right leg in the first half against ISU. She was carried off the court by Binford and an MSU trainer, tears streaming down her face. She returned for the second half with her leg heavily wrapped. She did not practice Monday but Binford said she is healthy and will play this weekend.
One of the largest concerns for the Bobcats has nothing to do with the upcoming battles on the hardwood. The players will miss nine school days. Spring break at MSU is the week after the Big Sky Tournament. With an outright Big Sky title, MSU will at least secure a spot in the Women’s National Invitational Tournament. The winner of the Big Sky Touranment will earn the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament the following week.
“We are traveling our academic coordinators,” Binford said. “We are working with professors for what tests need to be proctored on the road. Stress levels are high for the student athletes. I think once we get them on the road, the stress levels will have some more time to deal with things but the last couple of days have been extremely busy. We are ready for it.”
[/restrict]Photos by Brooks Nuanez. All Rights Reserved.
