Big win over NAU solidifies ‘Cats BSC lead

The Bobcats took down the Northern Arizona University (NAU) Lumberjacks Thursday in a matchup of the top two women’s basketball teams in the Big Sky Conference (BSC).

MSU (22-2 overall, 12-0 Big Sky), led by senior Esmeralda Morales (25 points, 5-11 from the 3PT line) and freshman Taylee Chirrick (15 points, 10 rebounds), picked up a 73-66 win to build a two-game lead over NAU in the BSC. The Bobcats entered the matchup sitting at the top of the conference standings and riding a 13-game win streak. They had also previously defeated NAU (19-6, 10-2 Big Sky) this season in Flagstaff, Arizona, 87-81.

The game was a defensive stalemate early on, with the score just 7-6 with 4:47 left in the first quarter. NAU used a 14-0 scoring run to build its largest lead of the game at 13 points. The quarter ended 22-14 in favor of the Lumberjacks and MSU was searching for answers.

“Rebound the ball,” MSU Women’s Basketball Head Coach Tricia Binford said when asked what her message was to the team after falling behind early in the game. “We were giving them twice the amount of possessions by getting second opportunities and we just had to clean up the glass. That was the main focus — just clean up the glass and get [the] stops that we could.”

MSU heard their coach and closed the gap, taking the lead with 1:37 left in the second quarter thanks to back-to-back threes made by Morales. The Bobcats would go into halftime with a mere 33-32 lead, but Morales had flipped the game's momentum in the Bobcat's favor.

“[Having] an MVP kid like Esme [Morales], who can hit it from anywhere and take over a game, it was just a kind of a special moment to kind of engage with the crowd and feed off the crowd,” Binford said.

The Bobcats turned that momentum into a 15-0 scoring run to open the second half while also erasing the Lumberjacks’ early 17-7 advantage on the glass from the first quarter. The team dominated the rest of the game as they led for the entirety of the second half and kept NAU in check. MSU utilized several different lineup combinations to do this and ultimately the team’s depth was too much for the Lumberjacks.

“We kind of rotate different mixes, different lineups, and sometimes that speed kind of gets that spark,” Binford said. “You get the Taylee Chirricks of the world, the Natalie [Pictons], and the Addison [Harrises] coming off the bench and sometimes they’re getting a couple of hustle plays or steals and kind of getting momentum.”

Thursday’s game marked the Bobcats’ 14th victory in a row. Coupled with their 65-44 victory over the University of Northern Colorado two days later on Saturday, Feb. 8 the team has achieved a season-best 15-game win streak.

The Bobcats are looking to stay hot as they prepare for the Big Sky Tournament next month, where the winner will receive an automatic bid to the NCAA Women’s March Madness tournament. The team will be tested on the road when they play at Weber State University on Thursday, Feb. 13 and at Idaho State University on Saturday, Feb. 15.

Notwithstanding the team’s success offensively, Binford pointed out how the team’s defensive mindset allows them to consistently win games.

“Our identity is definitely on the defensive end,” Binford said. “We love to get stops, but we love to kind of rush teams and try to create some mistakes and turnovers so we can get out and run with our depth and maximize the depth of our bench.”

To watch the Bobcats in action, learn more about the team or buy tickets online, visit the program’s website at https://msubobcats.com/sports/womens-basketball.