Montana State University’s women’s basketball team secured a 72-55 victory over the University of Montana Lady Griz on Saturday, completing a regular-season sweep of their rivals in Missoula’s Dahlberg Arena.
Head coach Tricia Binford emphasized the team’s approach following the win. “It’s about the mentality,” Binford said. “Every team wants to set the tone with a fast start. Sometimes you get off to a great start, sometimes you don’t. We just want to play four complete quarters.”
The Bobcats established control early, scoring 17 of the game’s first 21 points and maintaining a double-digit lead for most of the contest. Junior Ella Johnson led Montana State with a career-high 17 points, adding six rebounds, two steals, and two blocked shots. Binford praised her performance: “I think it was the most complete game on both ends of the floor that she’s played.”
Montana State forced 18 turnovers from Montana—eight fewer than their season average—but held their opponents to just 39 percent shooting overall and only 17 percent in the opening quarter.
Addison Harris opened scoring for MSU with a second-chance basket before Jamison Philip extended the lead. After an early response from Montana’s Mack Konig, Johnson initiated a 10-0 run for Montana State that carried into the second quarter and eventually became a 28-6 stretch fueled by defensive pressure.
Montana responded in the second quarter with a 12-0 run behind Avery Waddington’s three-point shooting and Kennedy Gillette’s inside play but could not close within single digits before halftime. The Bobcats finished the half shooting 55 percent from the field while limiting Montana to under 30 percent.
“It’s huge when you have veterans that don’t show a reaction,” Binford noted regarding her team’s composure during Montana’s run. “When things are going against you, there are two ways you can go. You can go, ‘Next play, move on,’ or you can let it affect you. We moved on.”
In addition to Johnson’s efforts, Harris contributed 15 points; KJ Chirrick scored 14 points along with four steals and three assists; Philip added eleven points and six rebounds. For Montana, Gillette scored twelve points while Waddington had eleven and Rae Ehrmann ten.
With this result, Montana State improved its record to 18-6 overall (11-2 Big Sky Conference), while Montana dropped to 7-17 (4-9). The win marks five consecutive victories for MSU over UM and is their tenth all-time at Dahlberg Arena under Coach Binford’s leadership.
Montana State will next host Weber State on Thursday at home.
