As the old adage goes, it is not how you start, it is how you finish. The saying is apt whether you are talking about this week, this season, or the final chapter of the careers of several Montana State women’s basketball players.
Four years ago, Montana State head coach Tricia Binford signed a highly touted recruiting class filled with rich athletic bloodlines and strong local connections. Lindsay Stockton is the daughter of an NBA Hall of Famer. Jasmine Hommes is the niece of two all-time great Bobcats. Peyton Ferris was the Montana Gatorade Player of the Year from nearby Twin Bridges. Alexa Dawkins was the star of the Bozeman High powerhouse and the daughter of a former NFL wide receiver. Margreet Barhoum was an explosive, prolific scorer from outside Seattle.
The quintet was expected to be the core of Binford’s squad for years to come. Each has traveled a different path to this season as Montana State experienced growing pains the first three years the crew played together.
“It has been a tough career here,” Stockton, who’s Bobcats posted a 47-43 record before this season, including 30-28 in league play, said earlier this season. “We haven’t gotten the wins we necessarily wanted. Me personally, I haven’t played as much as I wanted.. All this coming together is why we came here. This senior year will be a dream hopefully if we finish the way we want to.”
The way Montana State wants to finish is synonymous with how Stockton, Hommes and Dawkins want to cap their Bobcat careers. Because of various injuries, Ferris and Barhoum have redshirted and each have eligilibity remaining behind this season. The other three enter this week’s Big Sky Tournament in Reno hoping to capitalize on the regular-season title the team won this winter, the first outright crown in program history.
Montana State earned a 14-4 mark in league play to win the title by a game over Eastern Washington and Idaho. The top-seeded Bobcats will face No. 9 Idaho State at 12:05 p.m. PST on Wednesday at the Reno Special Events Center. ISU posted a 54-45 win over Northern Colorado in the first game of the Big Sky Tournament on Monday.
“It’s been really exciting, especially with this happen my senior year,” Stockton said. “The last three years of my career haven’t been that successful so I’m so glad this is finally happening. It’s so great for Coach Bin to have a season like this and I’m glad it’s happening before I left.”
Stockton struggled to find her grove her first two seasons, mostly riding the bench. She broke into the starting lineup as MSU’s point guard last winter and has carved out a niche as one of the Big Sky Conference’s feistiest players.
Big Sky MVP Jasmine Hommes, pictured here against Montana, is the Big Sky MVP / by Brooks Nuanez
Dawkins and Ferris each experienced serious knee injuries as youngsters. This season, the duo has combined to form the best two-headed power forward in the league. Ferris earned Big Sky Top Reserve honors by averaging 16.4 points per game and leading the league in field goal percentage despite playing 21 minutes per game. Dawkins has been solid and efficient as well, averaging 6.6 points and shooting 52.5 percent in 22 minutes per game.
Hommes has progressed rapidly, becoming one of the smoothest scorers from the high and low post in the Big Sky. After earning second-team All-Big Sky honors as a junior, Hommes capped her final regular season by earning Big Sky MVP honors just like her aunt Blythe (1997) to go along with a unanimous selection to the all-league first team. She led MSU’s balanced scoring attack with 15.4 points per game.
“She’s the epitome of representing us in everything we talk about,” said Binford, who was named the Big Sky Coach of the Year on Tuesday. “She’s excellent in the three Cs: court, classroom and in the community. She’s been a consistent role model for us, a consistent example and she’s one of the best players to ever come out of the MSU basketball program.”
Barhoum has lost two seasons of eligibility to injuries but has carved out a niche. With Stockton on the shelf with a concussion and hyperactive Sacramento State in town, Barhoum rose to the occasion. She handled Sac State’s constant press with poise and helped lift the Bobcats to a 116-99 win.
The group has also been bolstered by a pair of young players and the Big Sky’s Newcomer of the Year. Sophomore Delany Junkermier has started 26 of 29 games this season and provided clutch 3-point shooting throughout. Sophomore Hannah Caudill has been able to spell Stockton productively, leading the Big Sky in assists off the bench.
MSU guard Riley Nordgaard
And junior Riley Nordgaard has served as Montana State’s tone setter all season. The athletic, competive forward earned Big Sky Newcomer of the Year honors by averaging 11.1 points, a team-best 7.2 rebounds and 2.5 assists, one of the best marks in the league.
MSU has some of the Big Sky’s top talent to be sure. But Binford’s ability to tweak her coaching staff and loosen the reigns on her players has also been a key. Montana State’s up-tempo ball-screen offense has produced a Big Sky-best 18 assists per game as MSU has put up 76 points per contest.
“Experience is a lot of it,” BInford said of the free-flowing nature of her team’s style this season. “When you have kids with this sort of IQ, you can loosen up the reigns
“I wouldn’t say it’s a change for me but I have taken some thoughts from Coach Stockton. He brought in some of those ideas and gave them some areas where they can apply those kind of freedoms. I wanted our kids to play to their instincts and Coach Stockton has elevated those opportunities.”
While Lindsay may well one day have a future in coaching and her leadership is an extension for Binford’s coaching style on the floor, the Coach Stockton MSU’s head coach refers to is Lindsay’s Hall of Fame father, John. The NBA’s all-time leader in assists and steals is widely recognized as one of the greatest point guards in the history of the game after 19 outstanding seasons with the Utah Jazz.
A few weeks before the season, former assistant Kellee Barney left the program to pursue other opportunities. Barney’s departure came on the heels of Amy Starr’s jump to Pacific, a move that came after spending Binford’s first 10 seasons as MSU’s lead assistant.
Binford scrambled and decided to take a chance. She called John Stockton. He has always made a commitment to prioritize whatever one of his six children were in the midst of their senior sports seasons. Because it was Lindsay’s final year in Bozeman, he had already planned on coming to almost all of MSU’s games. He agreed to take a spot on Binford’s staff for the winter.
“This sure wasn’t something I’d ever expect would happen,” John Stockton said earlier this season. “It’s been a great experience. It’s been a great experience with all these girls and this coaching staff, not just Lindsay. It’s been eye-opening for me on how hard these girls work, how hard the coaches work and how dedicated everybody is. It’s been a wonderful experience. As a dad, with your daughter being able to spend her senior year with her and participate in something we both hold so dear, it’s really hard to put into words how important and how much fun this has been for me.”
John’s influence has been strong on Montana State. The Bobcats play with added poise and the passing ability of the squad had improved greatly. But John is just one piece to what’s been a special season.
“I hoped we would do it sooner but I’m glad it’s happening this year,” Lindsay Stockton said. “It’s been surreal that it’s been four years already but the fact that we are winning, we are playing so well and this year has been so special, it’s really confirmed why we came here and made us really confident and confirmed this was the right decision for all of us.”
