Cats send Griz back into hibernation

“I’m having a blast coaching this team. They bring energy, they bring effort every single day, and there’s a lot of talent.” - Coach Tricia Binford

The Bobcat women’s basketball team played against the Montana Grizzlies on Thursday, Jan. 28, and Saturday, Jan. 30 in the annual Cat-Griz showdown. Unfortunately, officials canceled the men’s Cat-Griz series due to a positive COVID-19 test on the Grizzlies roster. Even with the spotlight shining in full force on just one series this year, the Bobcats managed two outstanding performances, beating the Griz at home in Worthington Arena and on the Griz’s home court at Dahlberg Arena in Missoula.

The missed men’s games would have marked the 302nd and 303rd times the Cats and the Griz have met on the court—only four other series in NCAA men's basketball have more than 300 meetings. The two teams have faced off annually since 1902 and have not missed playing each other since the 1943-44 season. Coming into the would-be rivalry week the Bobcat men were 6-0 in conference, putting them in first place. This is the first time the Bobcats have started the season 6-0 since the 1986-87 season.

This series’ cancellation marks the second schedule change the Bobcats have faced since Big Sky play began. The Cats’ games against Southern Utah were canceled after positive COVID-19 cases rocked the Thunderbirds. Currently, there are no plans to make up the two games against the Griz which is consistent with the Big Sky’s policy of not making up canceled games due to cases of COVID-19.

The first women’s game on Thursday showcased the Bobcats’ outstanding defense—racking up four blocked shots and 17 steals for the game—giving the offense time to build momentum and stretch their lead to 24 points. Senior guard Tori Martell shot four for five from behind the three-point line and led the team in scoring with 18 points by the final buzzer.

“...Before the game, I always give them one or two words, and tonight it was ‘hit and rip,’” said Bobcats head coach Tricia Binford. “We knew this team was gonna crash really hard [on the rebounds]… and they put you in a lot of really tough situations for the glass.” The focus on rebounding paid off well for the team as the Bobcats scored a total of 18 points off second shot opportunities, while the Griz only managed two. The Bobcats won the game, 70-46.

Moving into Saturday’s game, the Bobcats expected a whole new set of challenges facing them in Missoula. Even without any fans in the stands, no team had beaten the Griz on their home court this season and, after their loss, the Griz would no doubt come out with an extra edge to their energy.

“[The Griz] are gonna come ready to play on Saturday, and Dahlberg Arena is always hard to play in,” said senior guard Tori Martell. “I think we need to lock in with our freshmen too, and tell them that it’s a hard atmosphere even without the fans.”

Whatever they discussed between games must have worked, because freshman Taylor Janssen sunk 11 points for the Bobcats in the second quarter—the highest individual point count for a single quarter on the team this season so far—and pulled MSU to a comfortable lead going into the second half. However, the Griz were hungry on Saturday and kept things close throughout the game.

“Montana was really tough in the paint today,” said Binford regarding Saturday’s game. “It was really hard to keep them off the foul line… Mike [Lady Griz head coach Mike Petrino] did a great job making a game plan of just finding different ways to get it in there.”

The Bobcats weren’t so easy to keep out of the paint either, with players like sophomore guard Darian White scoring 19 points in the game—12 of which she sunk on the free-throw line.

“Sometimes I think our offense can struggle a little bit, so focusing on getting the ball moved around, making their defense work…and letting the game flow and come to me and my teammates makes the offense a lot easier,” White said. “We’re really gaining our identity, we’re finding out who we are, and I think it’s making us a very dangerous team.”

Though the Griz made some nerve-racking runs to close the gap through the fourth quarter, the Bobcats’ confidence and teamwork stopped the Griz just in time, and for the third year in a row, the women’s basketball team swept Montana.

“I’m having a blast coaching this team. They bring energy, they bring effort every single day, and there’s a lot of talent,” Binford said. “Earlier in the season we were trying to find some identity, we have a lot of new faces… but we haven’t had a whole lot of time—we went through four quarantines when practices started—these last few weeks we started to turn a corner… but we got a long way to go.”

The Bobcats now sit on a four-game conference win streak and face Weber State at home this Thursday, Feb. 4, and Saturday, Feb. 6.