The offense started the season red-hot on the road. The Bobcat women returned to the Brick and continued to roll.
Montana State scored 80 points in a win at Seattle U. MSU shot 52 percent in a win at Nevada. On Friday night in Bozeman, the Bobcats went on a 21-3 run in the second quarter and shot 60 overall in an 86-57 runaway over the Portland Pilots in front of 1,192.
Senior Jasmine Hommes hit 10-of-13 shots in scoring 21 points, including 15 before halftime. Junior Riley Nordgaard hit 6-of-9 shots for 13 points and grabbed a team-high eight rebounds. Senior Lyndsay Stockton and sophomore Hannah Caudill each dished out six assists as Montana State notched 25 dimes on 36 made field goals. Stockton and Caudill each had four steals as Montana State snared 12 and forced 25 turnovers that the Bobcats turned into 32 points.
“We are playing well offensively because we are playing strong team defense,” Montana State 11th-year head coach Tricia Binford said. “We are getting steals and stops and we are getting a lot in the first 10 seconds of the shot clock. And we’ve changed our offense to get some more ball-screen action that gives us more movement and action and plays to everyone’s strengths.”
MSU turned a 16-14 lead after the first quarter into a 37-17 lead with 4:15 left in the first half. By intermission, Hommes was7-of-9 from the floor, the Bobcats owned a 20-4 advantage in the paint and Montana State held a commanding 41-23 lead
Overall, Montana State shot 36-of-60 from the floor and made half of its 16 tries from beyond the 3-point arc. In her first career start, sophomore Delany Junkermier scored 11 points. Junior Peyton Ferris converted all five of her field goals in scoring 10 points off the bench. Ferris backed up senior Alexa Dawkins, who converted all three of her shots, meaning MSU’s power forwards did not miss a shot on Friday. Stockton and Caudill each scored eight points as 10 of the 11 Bobcats who played scored.
“We are all having fun,” Binford said. “Practices are really challenging but really rewarding right now. Our staff is completely bought in, our kids are completely bought in. We know it’s really early. We just want to stay in the present and keep getting better every day.”
Midway through the fourth quarter, Montana State held a 25-point lead, yet Nordgaard was putting forth effort of a game’s outset. On her final possession, she dove on the floor on two different occasions. After securing possession, Binford gave the Augustana transfer a sub. Nordgaard, who sat out last season, received a standing ovation from the crowd in her first career start at home.
“Riley is such a fun person to watch in general because she’s so athletic,” Binford said. “She’s a high-energy kid. You can feed a lot off of her. She makes plays in all categories. She really distributes the ball well, keeps people involved and she can score. She’s a very versatile player.”
Montana State made a concerted effort to push the ball and get quick shots early in the shot clock to emphasize its depth. MSU was credited with 12 fast-break points but scored a good portion of its points in the first half of the 30-second shot clock.
In all three games this season, Montana State has seen at least six players score at least eight points. The Bobcats are averaging 77 points per game in posting a 3-0 record early on.
“We’ve got the depth to be that fast,” Binford said. “Really, everybody coming in is giving us advantage because we have such fresh legs. The fresh legs help us make stops in the defensive end but it also helps us run the floor. We feel that’s a strength of ours that we want to utilize.”
