THE MATCHUP
The Montana State women’s basketball team cruised to a second straight win Thursday , posting a 61-40 win over a Northern Colorado squad with nine true freshmen on its roster. On Saturday, MSU hosted a Northern Arizona team coming off its first victory in Missoula since 2007; NAU beat Montana 76-74.
THE RESULT
The Lumberjacks, who head coach Loree Payne of Havre, Montana, carried the momentum from Thursday’s notable victory to emerge with an 85-80 win over the Bobcats at Brick Breeden Fieldhouse. With the win, Northern Arizona snapped an eight-game losing streak to the Bobcats, including a 75-64 MSU win over NAU in the Big Sky Tournament championship game last March.
Montana State held a two-point lead following a pair of Taylor Janssen free throws with 6 minutes, 43 seconds remaining in the game, but Northern Arizona answered rattling off a 7-0 run, taking a five-point advantage as MSU went scoreless for over three minutes.
THE STANDOUTS
Northern Arizona senior Regan Schenck continues to be one of the top point guard in the Big Sky. Saturday, she pushed the ball with great aggressiveness and dished out 10 of NAU’s 14 assists. She also chipped in 16 points and seven rebounds. Montana Oltrogge, a transfer from Idaho State, scored 14 points to surpass 1,000 in her career. Emily Rodabaugh hit three 3-pointers and scored 13 points.
On Thursday, freshman Sophia Glancy scored 22 points against Montana. She followed it up with 15 points off the bench for NAU, who won the points in the paint (42-38), fast break points (20-2) and bench points (30-27) and moved to 3-1 in league play, 9-8 overall.
Senior point guard Darian White and junior forward Lexi Deden each scored 14 points to lead MSU. Senior post Kola Bad Bear added 12 points but Montana State fell to 2-2 in league play, 9-7 overall.
BOX SCORE
QUOTABLE
“Every single night is going to be a battle. NAU leads the Big Sky in scoring, and they really like to run and push it, and we didn’t do a good enough job in transition to stop them.”
Montana State head coach Tricia Binford
“Our turnover numbers this weekend were really critical in our success. This is like the Big Sky Championship, Boise Tournament type of atmosphere. For them to get to experience it and come out on top with a little confidence is something that is definitely going to stay with us during conference play.”
Northern Arizona head coach Loree Payne
“Just to come back here, I think it is always special. We’ve struggled a little bit here and we’ve had some close games here, but to be able to complete the sweep… It’s something they needed to accomplish, especially the returners really wanted to accomplish that.”
Northern Arizona head coach Loree Payne
What’s next
Montana State plays at Idaho State on Thursday and at Weber State on Saturday. Northern Arizona hosts Portland State on Thursday and Sac State on Saturday.
