Game Recap

Bobcat women have nearly year-long winning streak snapped at BYU

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The Bobcats went almost went an entire calendar year without experiencing defeat.

The Montana State women’s basketball team fell 69-68 to Idaho on January 9 of 2020. That sparked a 17-game winning streak that helped MSU set a Big Sky Conference single-season record with 19 league wins on the way to tying the school record with 25 wins total.

Montana State’s historic season ultimately ended with a 76-71 win over Northern Arizona in the semifinals of the Big Sky Tournament in Boise. Before a rematch with Idaho in the championship game could be played, the Big Sky and NCAA Tournaments were cancelled, leaving MSU wondering what might have been.

The five Bobcat seniors would never get a chance to suit up in Blue and Gold again. But a collection of key returners, led by senior sharpshooter Tori Martell and sophomore All-Big Sky point guard Darian White looked in mid-season form on Sunday, helping guide MSU to an 84-72 victory over North Dakota in the season-opener for both teams.

Last week, MSU added non-conference games to its schedule, including Thursday afternoon’s matchup at BYU. For the first time in 344 days, the Bobcats hit the skids, falling behind 15-2 in the first quarter and eventually losing 72-58 to the Cougars of the Mountain West in Provo.

MSU trailed 10-0 before White converted MSU’s first bucket nearly five minutes into the game. Maria Albiero’s jumper with 4:19 left in the first quarter pushed the advantage to 15-2.

Montana State sophomore Kola Bad Bear scored a pair of hoops late in the first frame as part of a four-point first half and a 10-point afternoon.

But BYU had a 15-point lead before the first quarter ended; a lead of 20, 33-13, when Shaylee Gonzalez hit her second 3-pointer of the first half; and a 40-18 lead at halftime after Gonzalez buried her third triple just five seconds before the break.

Montana State sophomore Kola Bad Bear, pictured last season / By Brooks Nuanez

Montana State hit 14 3-pointers (in 40 attempts) against North Dakota, including Martell drilling a school-record eight from beyond the arc. Thursday, Montana State converted just four field goal attempts in 24 tries before halftime, including missing all but one of its 14 3-point attempts. The lone triple made came from true freshman Taylor Janssen.

Gonzalez, who finished with 18 points, hit a jump shot with 8:12 left in the third quarter to push the lead to 44-21 before the Bobcats found a little life. MSU shaved the deficit to 16 but BYU used another run sparked by slick 3-point shooting — the hosts went 14-of-31 from deep, including 8-of-15 from beyond the arc in the second half — and Tegan Graham’s lone 3-pointer helped BYU enter the fourth quarter up 23, 60-37.

MSU chipped the deficit down to 14 by the end of the game but trailed for the duration of the action, including facing a double-digit deficit for the last 36 minutes of action.

“We’re a real young team and growth is a process,” MSU head coach Tricia Binford said. “We’re still trying to find our identity and we showed some nerves digging ourselves a pretty deep hole from the start.

“I am proud of our second half effort,” Binford added. “I thought we played more aggressively. We were able to play a lot kids and this will help us build confidence going forward. We certainly have a lot of work and learning to do as BYU tested in a variety of ways.”

Gonzaelz and Paisley Harding (11 points) led a balanced BYU scoring attack as 12 Cougars scored, including five players who finished with eight points or more.

White finished with 16 points while Martell and Bad Bear each added 10 for the Bobcats, who fell to 1-1 and saw their winning streak end at 18.

Tip between the Utes and Bobcats from Utah in Salt Lake City is scheduled for 5 p.m. Friday evening.

About Colter Nuanez

Colter Nuanez is the co-founder and senior writer for Skyline Sports. After spending six years in the newspaper industry with stops at the Missoulian, the Ellensburg Daily Record and the Bozeman Daily Chronicle, the former Washington Newspaper Association Sportswriter of the Year and University of Montana Journalism School graduate ('09) has cultivated a deep passion for sports journalism during his 13-year career covering the Big Sky Conference. In August of 2014, Colter and brother Brooks merged their passions of writing and art to found Skyline Sports.

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