BOZEMAN — With one of the nation’s longest home winning streaks on the line and a chance to sweep the once-proud Lady Griz for the first time in a generation hanging in the balance, the Bobcats felt the pressure weighing heavily upon them.
The Montana State women’s basketball team endured a nightmarish first quarter, pressing under the magnitude of the opportunity for the first 10 minutes at Brick Breedin Fieldhouse on Saturday afternoon. Montana State turned the corner in the second quarter before hitting the gas full throttle in the third to bury rival Montana.
MSU held UM scoreless for nearly six and a half minutes during an 18-0 third quarter run that helped turn a tight, physical contest into a runaway. The hosts cruised from there, posting a 71-54 victory in front of 3,273 to earn their 23rd straight home victory, the fourth-longest streak in Division I.
MSU guard Delany Junkermier (12)
“It feels great to end your last year on a sweep,” said MSU fifth-year senior Peyton Ferris, a Twin Bridges native and Montana State’s most famous in-state product. “It’s a good note to end on. I didn’t have an answer for it being my last Cat-Griz and I don’t know if it will settle in tonight, but it’s definitely an atmosphere I will miss playing in. It’s been a blast over the last five years, every matchup.”
The win gives Montana State its second straight 20-win season and keeps the Bobcats alive for a second straight regular-season Big Sky Conference championship. The victory also gives MSU its first season sweep of its rival since 1999. MSU secured a top-four finish in the Big Sky standings and the first round bye at the Big Sky Tournament that goes with it.
“I was teasing some of the freshmen that we haven’t swept these guys since they were born,” said MSU junior Delany Junkermier after her second straight clutch performance in the rivalry. “It’s a huge thing for us as well as our community. Starting with football (MSU won 24-17 in Missoula), them winning there and now us here. Hopefully our guys can get a win tonight. It’s a huge win for our Bozeman community and we are so happy we could do it for them.”
The hosts missed nine of their first 10 shots and 15 of their first 17 attempts. Montana’s lead swelled to 20-10 early in the second quarter before the Bobcats started to chip away. Montana freshman Gabi Harrington drilled a 3-pointer to push the lead to 10 and she held her follow through above her head as the largest women’s crowd of the season sat in silence.
“It’s all about these experiences for these young ladies and Gabi is a freshman and I don’t know if she’s ever played in front of a crowd this big on the road,” Montana first-year head coach Shannon Schweyen said after her team fell to 5-22 this season, including just 2-14 in league play. “Anyone that has ever silenced a crowd in an arena knows it’s a pretty good feeling.”
MSU guard Margreet Barhoum (10)
An 8-0 run sparked by backup senior point guard Margreet Barhoum’s penetration and six straight points from sophomore reserve Annika Lai helped the Bobcats tied the game for the first time, 22-22, with 2:30 before halftime. The Bobcats won the second quarter 20-13 but still trailed 29-26 at intermission. But the reigning league champions emerged from the locker room reinvigorated and blitzed the visitors from Missoula.
“It seems like Cat-Griz basketball: you have to always give a talk about sharing the basketball and not pressing,” MSU 12th-year head coach Tricia Binford said. “Our ladies want to win so bad for the community and for our fans, sometimes you can press and be over motivated. I loved our last five minutes of the second quarter. That’s what we focused on at halftime. It wasn’t about the other 15 minutes. It was about building off that last five minutes.”
Ferris scored 12 of her 16 after halftime, including seven in the third quarter. Junior Delany Junkermier’s inspired play, including scoring 17 of her game-high 19 after halftime, combined with junior point guard Hannah Caudill’s hot shooting helped Montana State pull away by winning the third frame 26-7.
“We came out and I feel we got good looks, we just didn’t execute,” Ferris said. “We went into halftime and made the right adjustments, got the right looks, ran the right stuff. That’s when it really turned.”
UM freshman Hailey Nicholson converted an old-fashioned 3-point play with 6:49 left in the third quarter to give Montana its last lead, 34-31. Caudill answered with her second of five 3-poitners to tie it. Montana State held the Lady Griz scoreless for 6:25 and Junkermier scored eight points during MSU’s 18-point onslaught that turned a three-point deficit into a 49-34 lead. Nicholson hit two free throws late in the third but Caudill drilled a triple at the buzzer to essentially seal the win despite one quarter remaining.
UM forward Peyton Ferris (2)
“It was about playing as a team,” Junkermier said. “We got a lot of looks in transition, which is a big part of our game. Our defensive stops were a huge part. We were messing them up with the stuff we were running. Everyone really zoned in during those moments.”
When Caudill hit her first third quarter 3-pointer to tie the game and ignite the run, the season-high crowd rose to their feet. The volume in the arena continued throughout the spurt as the Bobcats rode one of the Big Sky’s best home court advantages to a paramount victory, MSU’s 13th in 16 league outings this season.
“The crowd was phenomenal all the way around,” Binford said. “Even before halftime, we were able to get it close. To be able to tie it up in the second quarter was a pretty good push and the crowd was a big part of that.”
“Just that feeling of your crowd cheering for you I’m sure helped them a lot,” said Nicholson, a Malta native who finished with a team-high 13 points. “I’m sure that helped them get pumped up.”
In the fourth quarter, the Bobcats cruised as the once-inspired visitors seemed to lose all their gusto. Despite MSU senior Riley Nordgaard fouling out with just three points, the Bobcat lead swelled to as many as 19 as the hosts continued to pour it on. Caudill and Junkermier each hit two 3-pointers and Ferris added her only trey for good measure as the Bobcats capped a second half in which they outscored the Lady Griz 45-25.
UM guard Taylor Goligoski (23) shot blocked by MSU forward Riley Nordgaard (15)
Montana State switched all its on-ball screens, particularly in the first half, to help fluster freshmen guards Taylor Goligoski and McKenzie Johnston, UM’s two leading scorers. In the second half, the Bobcats employed a 2-3 zone that held UM to 18 percent shooting in the third quarter and 34.6 percent in the second half. The Lady Griz hit 3-of-5 first-half 3-pointers but missed all seven of their distance after halftime.
Goligoski did not make a field goal and scored just two points. Johnston, who endured an injury to her left ankle after a hard foul from Caudill, scored eight points in 35 minutes. She exited the game after the injury but returned and played 35 minutes.
“(MSU assistant) Coach (Nate) Harris and I talked about coming into this week about trying to shake things up and not let teams get comfortable,” Binford said. “We are mostly known for our man. We wanted to create some of that and our kids responded well.”
Montana State needed a 9-0 run at the end of regulation to emerge with a 75-69 win in Missoula in the first matchup this season. This time, the Bobcats put down the pedal earlier and cruised to a memorable win to secure the second 20-win season of Binford’s tenure.
“Montana has a very successful program and a huge history and we respect them a great deal,” Binford said. “I told Shannon before the game, ‘It’s hard because so many people want this to be a hatred but I love their staff and we love their kids.’ This is one of those fun rivalries where you respect them a great deal. For us, we are at a time where the last couple of years, we’ve been able to turn the corner with our program. We are trying to build that consistency here at MSU.”
