BOISE, Idaho — The first three quarterfinal games of the Big Sky Conference women’s basketball championship, included a pair of veteran teams and a third squad led by the league’s MVP advancing to Wednesday’s semifinal round.
Tuesday’s fourth game included a team fresh off one of the most surprising upsets in the history of the tournament playing a new-look yet proud championship program looking for new glory after last season’s disappointing end.
Postseason play for the final eight teams remaining in the Big Sky women’s league began with the favored seeds advancing three games in a row. Top-seeded Idaho State breezed past No. 8 Portland State. No. 4 Northern Colorado gutted out a 63-59 win over No. 5 Southern Utah. And No. 2 Idaho cruised to a 67-53 win over No. 7 Northern Arizona.
During Tuesday’s nightcap, a last-place Sac State team coming off a shocking upset of once-mighty Montana looked like a Cinderella once again for the first half of the first quarter.
Montana State had five seniors last season, following the lead of Big Sky MVP Fallyn Freije along with all-league classmates Oliana Squires and Blaire Braxton to a conference-record 19 wins. MSU’s 26th win in the semifinals last season’s Big Sky Tournament over Northern Arizona also helped those Bobcats tie the school record for overall wins.
But the championship game was called off. Arguably the greatest team in MSU women’s basketball didn’t get a chance to punch a ticket to the Big Dance. Instead, the tournament was called off before the Bobcats got a chance to play second-seeded Idaho for the championship.
Tricia Binford’s 16th Bobcat squad entered this season with the youngest roster in all of Division I college basketball. Yet MSU proved once again it is the league’s most solid program, posting a 13-3 conference record to earn the No. 3 seed despite a rotation featuring five freshmen, three sophomores and just one senior in sharpshooter Tori Martell.
Yet that youth proved to be the Bobcats’ crucial factor in avoiding a upset sting from the Hornets. True freshmen combined to score 10 points during a 14-3 run to end the first quarter that gave Montana State a 66-55 win to earn a semifinal shot at Idaho.
“I’m really proud of this group,” Binford said a few days after claiming her third Big Sky Coach of the Year in the last five years. “You get to tournament time and you have to find ways to finish games.”
The Hornets entered Tuesday with the vigor and confidence of the same team that had nothing to lose against the Lady Griz. Sac State jumped out to a 9-3 lead in the first five minutes against the Bobcats.
MSU responded thanks to a spurt led by Lexi Deden, Ava Ranson and K.J. Limardo, a trio of rookies playing in their first Big Sky Tournament. Deden sparked the first-quarter spurt and made three field goals during the run. Ranson and Limardo each hit 3-pointers and Montana State never relinquished control thereafter.
“That was exactly what we needed at the right moment,” Binford said. “But that’s exactly how this team has rolled all season long. It’s been different kids and a lot of different situations. Those kids gave us a lift and we ran some offense, got in transition and just played.”
The Montana State lead swelled to as many as 20 points multiple times in the final frame. And the game was never in question after the first quarter ended.
Despite shooting 38.5 percent from the floor, 25 percent (7-of-28) from beyond the arc and 9-of-17 from the free throw line, the Bobcats defeated the Hornets for the third time in six days.
Martell shook off a slow start to lead MSU with 18 points to lead all scorers. Deden had the breakout game of the night session, converting six of her nine field goal attempts on the way to 13 points.
“Defense, effort, keeping it all together, making my team get a spark off the bench, that really helped my team,” Deden said.
Between Deden, Limardo (nine points), Ranson and Leia Beattie combined for 28 points and 12 rebounds.
“I thought they responded to the moment extremely well,” Binford said. “Our team is all about effort and defense. Everything starts with that when you get stops and get great defense as a group and you share the ball.
“This time of year, I can say they are almost sophomores now.”
The only conference loss suffered by the Bobcats a year ago came January 8 of 2020 in Bozeman to Idaho. That one-point Vandal win at Brick Breeden sparked a 17-game winning streak for Binford’s squad on the way to a third regular-season crown in five years.
The regular-season series that would’ve influenced the championship between UI and MSU did not happen. Now the matchup is set. Tuesday, Idaho hustled their way to win over NAU. That set the stage for the Bobcats to survive and advance.
“We are so excited to play them,” Martell said. “I think it’s going to be a fun matchup and it always has been. Getting this game under our belt is really helpful.”
“My initial thoughts are that 9 p.m. is very late,” Binford added with a laugh. “We are moving breakfast back.
“It’s going to be a great game. It’s a little unusual going into a tournament and you play a team you haven’t played in the regular season. That’s a first for me in 16 years, so that’s going to be crazby.”
Photos by Brooks Nuanez. All Rights Reserved.
