Peyton Ferris brought her best. Montana State kept Kelsey Plum in check for most of the first three quarters, but in the end a home court advantage and the depth of a Pac 12 roster proved to be too much for the Bobcats.
Ferris, the consensus star of the Big Sky Conference after capturing preseason, regular-season and postseason MVP honors, tied a career high by pouring in 33 points. She scored 19 points in the first half alone as 14th-seeded Montana State entered halftime down nine despite No. 3 Washington hitting a 3-pointer at the second quarter buzzer.
Washington senior Kelsey Plum is the NCAA Division I all-time leading scorer
MSU senior Riley Nordgaard hit a 3-pointer two minutes into the third quarter to cut the Washington lead to 40-32. Junior Delany Junkermier converted a layup to help MSU cut the lead to six on the next possession. Then Plum, towering teammate Chantel Osahor and the Huskies took over, burying the Big Sky champions in short order.
Plum hit a jumper on the Huskies’ next possession. The Final Four qualifier from a season ago never looked back. Plum scored 16 points in the game’s final 17 minutes, Osahor grabbed 19 rebounds to help the Huskies build a 52-41 rebounding advantage and Washington scored 53 second-half points to post a 91-63 victory in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at Alaska Airlines Arena in Seattle.
Plum, the all-time leading scorer in Division I women’s basketball history, finished with 29 points, nearly three below her NCAA-leading average. She converted half of her 20 field goal attempts, finishing at the rim at will but MSU held her to 1-of-7 from beyond the 3-point line. Osahor, a 6-foot-2 senior, notched her 40th career double-double by scoring 16 points to go with her 19 boards.
Ferris, a fifth-year senior from Twin Bridges and former Montana Gatorade Player of the Year, did all she could, hitting 10-of-28 shots and 3-of-12 from deep. She converted 10 of her 12 free throws and tied her career high set against Weber State her junior year. She also notched seven rebounds but it was not enough as the Bobcats finished 2017 25-7.
The Bobcats did not provide much scoring punch outside their MVP captain. Nordgaard hit just two of her 10 3-point tries and just 3-of-14 points overall. She finished with 10 points, seven rebounds, three assists and two steals.
Montana State senior captain Riley Nordgaard
Nordgaard missed the final field goal attempt of her career late in the game and, in what has become her trademark, dove to the floor for the loose ball. MSU 12-year head coach Tricia Binford took Nordgaard out of the game for the last time to a nice ovation from the sizeable crowd on hand. Nordgaard, with a smile, mouthed to Binford, ‘That would be the last play of my career, right coach?”
Junkermier hit four of her six shots from the floor and scored nine points. The rest of the Bobcats combined for just 11 points. MSU hit just seven of its 34 tries from beyond the arc and shot 32.4 percent (22-68) overall. Ferris made all but two of MSU’s 12 free throw makes in 14 attempts.
Montana State held Plum to 12 first-half points and limited the Huskies to 40.8 percent shooting overall. Washington made just 7-of-29 from deep. UW made 22 of 27 free throws, gaining a 10-point advantage at the stripe.
The win moves Washington into the second round. The Huskies spent most of the season in the Top 10 of the national polls after last year’s Final Four run. Washington won 15 games in the Pac 12, the No. 1 overall league in the country in terms of RPI. The Huskies move to 18-1 at Alaska Airlines Arena this season and 29-5 overall.
MSU guard Delaney Junkermier (12)
The loss ends a record-setting season for the Montana State women. The Bobcats won 25 games, including 15 in the Big Sky, both school records. MSU won the Big Sky for the second straight year, winning consecutive titles for the first time since 2002 and 2003. Montana State took the No. 1 seed into the Big Sky Tournament for the second straight season. After losing in the quarterfinals to Idaho State on a buzzer-beater in 2016, the ‘Cats won three straight in Reno to punch their first ticket to the Big Dance since 1993.
The Bobcats carry a 25-game home winning streak into next season that ranks as the fourth-longest in the country. Montana State loses Ferris, Nordgaard and backup point guard Margreet Barhoum from this year’s team.
Photos by Brooks Nuanez. All Rights Reserved.
