THE MATCHUP
Montana State looked to carry the momentum from its first Big Sky Conference win last Saturday at Eastern Washington into its first league home game against a Northern Colorado team with eight freshmen on its roster, most of which are already in the rotation for second-year head coach Kristen Mattio.
THE RESULT
Montana State exploded to a 32-12 halftime lead and had nearly doubled up the Bears (leading 59-30 with seven minutes left) before MSU 18th-year head coach Tricia Binford unloaded her bench as the Bobcats cruised to a 61-40 win to move to 2-1 in Big Sky Conference play, 9-6 overall. The loss drops Northern Colorado to 2-1 in league, 8-6 overall.
THE STANDOUTS
Senior Madison Jackson led Montana State with 12 points. The Parma, Idaho made her second consecutive start, connected on 5-of-6 from the floor, including a pair of 3-pointers. Freshman Grace Beasley also reached double figures with 10 points and 10 out of 11 Bobcats who played, scored.
“Jack (Madison Jackson) is really coming into her own,” Montana State head coach Tricia Binford said. “She’s always been a very consistent player for us, but now she’s hitting some big shots.”
MSU outrebounded UNC 39-35 as freshman Marah Dykstra and junior Katelynn Limardo guided the Bobcats under the glass with six and five rebounds, respectively. Senior point Darian White finished with seven points and seven assists. White’s seven points moved her into fifth on MSU’s all-time scoring chart with 1,449 career points.
Northern Colorado junior point guard Hannah Simental, an All-Big Sky selection last season and a member of this season’s preseason all-league squad, led UNC with 15 points.
BOX SCORE
QUOTABLE
“It was a great defensive effort. Defense and winning the glass were points of emphasis this week. We learned a lot from our game at Idaho last week and we were determined to make Northern Colorado work for every shot they took – Montana State head coach Tricia Binford
What’s next
Montana State hosts Northern Arizona on Saturday at 1 p.m. at Worthington Arena. The Lumberjacks posted a 76-74 win over Montana in Missoula on Thursday night.
