With her team’s nationally recognized home winning streak hanging in the balance, Tricia Binford signaled to the 1,797 in attendance to stand and rock Brick Breeden Fieldhouse.
Montana State entered Saturday’s matinee with Southern Utah on a 21-game winning streak at home, the fourth-longest mark in the country. The Thunderbirds came to Bozeman winless in 12 Big Sky Conference contests. But the action played out like anything but a mismatch.
The Bobcat women have made a living on riding the momentum of their home crowd for most of the last two years while winning a Big Sky title and working on a second straight championship. Whether it’s a sweet post move by Peyton Ferris or a hustle play by Riley Nordgaard or a clutch 3-pointer by Hannah Caudill, Montana State has fed off the Fieldhouse energy to bury opponents with explosive runs. On Saturday, Southern Utah dominated the glass, hit a collection of big shots and pushed MSU’s home winning streak to the brink.
So when MSU junior Delany Junkermier drilled a clutch 3-pointer with one minute, 26 seconds left, Binford, MSU’s 12th-year head coach, rose from her seat on the bench and waived her arms in an effort to send the already loud crowd into a frenzy.
The Bobcats rode the momentum of Junkermier’s triple and Nordgaard’s increasingly peerless toughness during a pivotal stretch to eek out a 71-68 victory on Saturday afternoon.
MSU guard Riley Nordgaard (15)
“This is a whole lot better than a game that you are not being challenged,” Binford said. “They responded to every play we made. Usually when we make a run, that’s when we start taking control. Every time we responded and tied it up, they would get a transition layup. I love the fight out of their team. They are as hungry as we are.
“Our crowd was electric. To get them roaring and get them behind us, that pushes you through. The crowd was fantastic today.”
Junkermier’s 3-pointer, her third of the night, gave MSU a 67-64 lead with 86 seconds left. Darri Frandsen, who finished with 11 points off the bench for SUU, converted a layup to cut the MSU advantage to one with 48 seconds left.
MSU turned the ball over on the next possession but forced a Frandsen miss. During the scramble for the loose ball, Nordgaard — a senior who went to the bench minutes earlier after a hard contact play that knocked the wind out of her — tied up two Thunderbirds to force a jump ball and earn MSU possession.
“She was under the weather, got the wind knocked out of her, leg was bleeding. That shows the toughness of the kid,” Binford said. “I was trying to ask her when she needed a breather to let me know. She was having a hard time just getting up and down the floor. But that’s who she is: resilient.”
Southern Utah had three fouls to give. The third sent Nordgaard to the free throw line, where she hit both to give MSU a 69-66 lead with 14 seconds left. Caudill hit two of four tries from the stripe to offset a Rebecca Cardenas layup for the final margin.
MSU guard Annika Lai (3) and Hannah Caudill (23) defending SUU forward Jessica Richardson (43)
“That added fuel to the fire,” Nordgaard said when asked about her hard fall followed by her strong final five minutes as she finished with 10 points. “I didn’t really think anything other than I was coming back in. I knew my team needed me and I knew we were not dropping a game, especially here in the Brick. I was going to play in that game no matter even if my leg was broken.”
Southern Utah put pressure on the Bobcats from the outset with a frantic, crashing style and shooting unseen yet this season. SUU hit 10 of its first 15 shots in building a 27-23 lead after the first quarter. The action went back and forth for the duration of the game with the lead changing hands 10 times and the score drawing even 13 other occasions.
The Thunderbirds battled the reigning Big Sky champions for 40 full minutes thanks to a relentless effort on the glass and timely shooting led by preseason All-Big Sky senior Jessica Richardson. The 5-foot-11 power forward hit her first five shots in the first quarter and finished with 17 points and 14 rebounds. SUU dominated the boards, grabbing 56 rebounds to MSU’s 38, including 18 offensive rebounds. Cardenas, SUU’s precocious 5-5 freshman point guard, snared five offensive rebounds, 10 rebounds overall and dished out eight of SUU’s 18 assists.
“They were hitting everything and they came to play,” Junkermier said. “They are a very scary team. They’ve gone to the wire with a lot of teams. You have to give props to them. They can make some teams very scared. They did a very good job of getting open shots. They worked it in with our posts. They hit everything, very good game for them.”
MSU guard Delaney Junkermier (12)
SUU lost to Big Sky front-runner North Dakota by three and five points. SUU lost by one to Eastern Washington, by five to Weber State and by three in double overtime to Idaho State.
Junkermier, a 5-10 guard with a sweet shooting stroke, entered the game mired in a slump from beyond the arc. She was 17-of-90 from deep (18.2 percent) entering Saturday’s game. Her second 3-pointer on Saturday tied the game at 59 in the fourth quarter. Her third ranks alongside her game-tying triple to send the game to overtime in MSU’s final home game last season against Idaho State as among the biggest shots of her career.
“It felt so good to get back into my flow,” said Junkermier, who finished 3-of-5 from deep. “I know I’ve been struggling all season but that’s never stopped me from shooting.
“When it’s not going in, it’s so frustrating. I’ve had so many talks with the mental aspect of it. The main thing for me is focusing on other things. I’ve gotten way better on defense. My rebounding has improved. I’ve been going to the hoop more and getting fouled and making free throws. That was my focus: stop thinking about the 3s and they will come. I know I’m a good shooter. I wanted to develop the other parts of my game. But to make a few big ones felt really good.”
Montana State clawed back despite shooting 37.7 percent from the floor. MSU hit just 7-of-26 from deep as Nordgaard finished 2-of-13 overall, 1-of-5 from deep. Caudill struggled shooting all night too, finishing 2-of-9 from the floor, 2-of-8 from distance and 3-of-6 from the stripe. But her corner 3-pointer with 5:40 left gave MSU a 62-61 lead. The Bobcats held SUU to 34 percent shooting, including 23 percent in the second quarter and 18.8 percent in the third.
MSU guard Hannah Caudill (23)
“We had a cold night offensively like teams will have,” Nordgaard said. “When it came down the stretch, Delany hit the 3s we needed, Hannah hit some big ones, Peyton did, I hit those free throws and we were able to close it down.”
The victory extended the fourth-longest home winning streak in the country and moved MSU to 11-2 in Big Sky play, 18-5 overall. Montana State moved into a tie for first place with five games remaining thanks to North Dakota’s loss at Idaho and Northern Colorado’s loss at Eastern Washington on Saturday.
“We know we have work to do,” Junkermier said. “We don’t want to be put in these positions. But it’s also good to learn. There was a bunch of games last year that came down to the wire that we have to be able to finish. This was a huge step for our team.”
Photos by Brooks Nuanez. All Rights Reserved.
