Stingy defense leads MSU women's hoops to OT win
BOISE, Idaho — When offense isn't clicking it may take an extra defensive play to win a close game. That's what Montana State got in a 47-44 overtime win over Northern Colorado in the Big Sky Conference Tournament quarterfinals on Monday.
Madison Hall's strong close-out on a buzzer-beating three-point attempt forced an errant shot that helped the Bobcats preserve the narrow win and provided the coda for an intense defensive effort. MSU forced 26 Bears turnovers and limited UNC to 25.4 percent shooting from the floor and 16.7 percent from three-point range.
"That's who this team has been," said MSU coach Tricia Binford, who raised her Big Sky tourney record to 18-14 as the Bobcats' head coach. "We've been committed to defense all year and today it was two teams really battling defensively. Both teams struggled to put points on the board. I was really proud of our kids' grittiness causing enough mistakes and hitting some free throws down the stretch."
That commitment proved the difference on Monday afternoon. Montana State (17-15) shot just 24.6 percent from the floor and hit only two of 19 three-point attempts. UNC's most pronounced statistical advantage came on the boards, where the Bears grabbed 50 caroms to MSU's 28, but the Cats held one big advantage.
"Our steals," she said when asked how her team was able to withstand UNC's 50-28 advantage on the glass. "The bottom line is we (created) 26 more opportunities for our team."
Montana State's play on the defensive end didn't just terminate UNC offensive possessions, it generated offense. The season-high 26 Bobcat takeaways turnovers led to an 11-5 edge in points-off-turnovers. That helped negate Northern Colorado's (15-15) 18 offensive boards – an opponent season high – gave the Bears 11 second-chance points.
The Bobcats square off with top-seeded Eastern Washington at 12 noon MT on Tuesday. The Bobcats beat Eastern by one in Cheney during the regular season, while the Eagles answered with a two-point win in Bozeman.
BOBCAT TOURNAMENT NOTES
MSU's 47 points is its fewest in a Big Sky Tournament game, and the 44 points allowed is the fewest by a Bobcat opponent.
Montana State's only other overtime game in league tournament history was a 64-51 win over Montana in 2002.
The Cats now stand 2-1 against UNC in tournament play.
Tricia Binford's 18 tournament wins is second to UM's Robin Selvig in Big Sky history, and is also more than seven of the league's other nine current programs.