Montana State women keep rolling, win seventh in a row against Weber State

THE MATCHUP

Montana State rolled into Saturday’s game against Weber State in the Brick Breeden Fieldhouse as the hottest team in the Big Sky Conference, with a six-game winning streak that included victories over rival Montana and defending conference champion Idaho State. Weber State, after sweeping the Montana schools at home over the New Year’s weekend, had lost eight of nine to fall to 4-9 in the Big Sky Conference.

THE RESULT

A technical foul was the biggest turning point in a wild fourth quarter, as Montana State made 5 of 6 free throws in a six-second span to turn a one-point deficit into a four-point lead with one minute, 31 seconds left and held on for a 74-71 win. The victory was the Bobcats’ seventh in a row and they kept pace with Southern Utah, which beat Eastern Washington, for first place in the conference.

Emma Torbert’s layup with 1:50 left gave Weber State the second of two leads the Wildcats enjoyed in the fourth quarter, but on the ensuing Montana State possession, Bobcats point guard Darian White drew a shooting foul and Weber was called for a technical.

White made three of four free throws to give Montana State a 65-63 lead. The Bobcats kept possession after the technical and Madison Jackson quickly drew a foul and made her two free throws to finish the lightning-fast turnaround.

Weber State got to within two points on two Daryn Hickok free throws with 10 seconds left, but White made one of two from the charity stripe with eight seconds to go and blocked Alama Solovi’s potential tying 3-pointer at the buzzer to help the ‘Cats escape. Both teams scored at least 25 points in the fourth quarter.

Montana State led for over 32 minutes of game time, but never by more than eight points. Tricia Binford’s team shot just 33% and allowed Weber State to shoot 48.9%, but the Bobcats attempted 72 shots to the visitors’ 45 thanks to 25 offensive rebounds and 19 Wildcats turnovers.

THE STANDOUTS

The first paragraph in this section should be reserved for White, as the star point guard once again led Montana State with 19 points, adding six rebounds in a team-high 33 minutes.

Taylor Janssen scored 15 points and grabbed a game-high nine rebounds for Montana State, coming within a whisker of her first career double-double. Her 3-pointer with 2:55 left broke a 59-59 tie.

Hickok led Weber State with 22 points on just nine field-goal attempts, going 8 for 11 from the free-throw line, and added eight rebounds.

Junior forward Jadyn Matthews had 18 points and eight boards for the Wildcats.

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WHAT’S NEXT

Montana State (14-8, 9-2 Big Sky Conference) plays at Idaho on Monday. The Vandals were picked high in the preseason polls but have struggled to a 4-5 record so far in Big Sky play.

Weber State (8-14, 4-9) will try to snap out of its slump on Thursday when the Wildcats host Eastern Washington.