Bobcats race their way past Lady Griz

Saturday, February 22

Bozeman, Mont.

2 PM

Montana

10-16, 6-9BSC

Montana State

25-2, 15-0BSC

Montana

Montana St.

Photo by: Tommy Martino/University of Montana

2/22/2025 5:17:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Photo Gallery

By: Montana Sports Information

Montana State shot its way to a 57-30 halftime lead and led from start to finish in defeating Montana 98-66 on Saturday afternoon inside Brick Breeden Fieldhouse in Bozeman.

It was the 18th consecutive win for the Bobcats (25-2, 15-0 BSC), who completed the season sweep of the Lady Griz (10-16, 6-9 BSC).

Montana kept Montana State's defense-to-offense transition game mostly in check when the teams met last month in Missoula, a game the Bobcats won 67-66.

Montana State turned Montana over early and often in the teams' second meeting, the Bobcats forcing 28 Lady Griz turnovers that they turned into 38 points.

Montana State shot 52.4 percent overall and went 10 for 23 (.435) from the 3-point line to score the most points the Bobcats have ever put up against Montana in their 120 meetings.

"Congratulations to Montana State. They played a great game," said Montana interim head coach Nate Harris, whose team lost its fourth consecutive game two weeks before the Big Sky tournament opens.

With three games to go, Montana will enter the final stretch of the regular season on the bubble between teams playing in the first round in Boise and those getting a bye to the quarterfinals.

"We have to get a lot better and get a lot better quickly," said Harris. "Today was not our most locked-in effort and that comes back to me.

"I failed to get our team ready to go in a way that had an impact to win this game. We're going to get back at it. We're going to refuse to give up. What matters is us hitting our stride heading into Boise."

Avery Waddington, who scored 21 points against the Bobcats in the first meeting, scored 20 on Saturday, going 4 for 9 from the 3-point line.

Tyler McCliment-Call added 17 on 7-of-11 shooting, Aby Shubert, in her first game since Jan. 25, hit three 3-pointers and scored 11, and Dani Bartsch had a 10-point, 14-rebound double-double.

It was Bartsch's 15th career double-double and her rebounds moved her into fourth on the Lady Griz career list with 860.

Trailing big at the break, Montana went 9 for 17 from the 3-point line in the second half, but the game was won in the first half.

The Lady Griz opened the game 2 for 12 with four turnovers, which played right into the Bobcats' strength. Montana State went up 17-7 just over five minutes into the game and never looked back.

Montana never held a lead in the game.

"We got great looks to start the game and could have defended our way through it," said Harris. "I have not helped them understand how important it is to defend your way through rough shooting spells."

Montana State went on a 14-0 run in the first quarter, scored the opening eight points of the second quarter and closed the first half with a pair of 3-pointers in the final 22 seconds.

After going 11 for 18 in the first quarter, the Bobcats were even better in the second, going 10 for 16. They shot 21 for 34 (.618) in the first half and went 8 for 15 (.533) from the 3-point line.

Montana State went up a game-high 40 points, 78-38, late in the third quarter on a pair of free throws by Esmeralda Morales.

The Lady Griz outscored the Bobcats the rest of the way, but the outcome had long been decided.

"We made shots in the second half, but that's going to come and go," said Harris. "You have to guard. We have to do a better job of guarding our way through rough stretches."

Morales led Montana State with 28 points on 15 shots. She added five assists, five rebounds and three steals without committing a turnover.

The rest of the Bobcats' starting five only added 16 points, but the MSU bench more than made up for it, the Montana State reserves scoring 54 points.

Montana will go into the final stretch of the regular season in a three-way tie for fifth in the Big Sky standings, with the eighth-place team a half game back.

Montana will host the two teams at the bottom of the league standings, Sacramento State (12-16, 5-10 BSC) and Portland State (4-20, 1-14 BSC), next week at Dahlberg Arena.

The Lady Griz will close the regular season with a game at Eastern Washington (10-17, 6-9 BSC) on Monday, March 3.