Defensive effort on full display as the Cats roll to victory

The women’s basketball team opened Big Sky Conference play last week with two home games against Northern Colorado and Sacramento State. The women are currently 5-5 overall and 2-0 in the conference. They now have three straight wins.

On Thursday, Dec. 2, the Cats hosted Northern Colorado in Worthington Arena. In their previous matchup, the Cats lost 57-49. This time the Cats’ defensive tactics were able to provide the team with some convincing steals, ultimately leading to a win of 63-57. “I thought we started off really well," Ellen Kreighbaum Women’s Head Basketball Coach Tricia Binford, whose title was recently endowed, said. "We came in to establish a defensive mindset and were able to get some steals and turnovers and get out and run. In the final two minutes, you could see the kids' attack-mindedness turn on, and we need to have that over the course of an entire game. We can't afford to shut it off at any point. The beginning and the end were fantastic, but in the middle, we had a lot of mistakes we need to clean up." The Bobcats have been averaging about 64 points each game. The next matchup between Northern Colorado and MSU will take place on March 4 in Greeley, CO.

Just a few days later, on Saturday, Dec. 4, the Cats took on Sacramento State, where they continued their win streak (76-69) for their eighth straight win against the Hornets. The Bobcats’ last loss to the Hornets was in 2018. The Cats forced more than 10 turnovers in the game.  On average the team has had a total of 82 points in each game against the Hornets. The Bobcats will be heading to California to take on Sacramento State again on March 2.

MSU will be taking on MSU Billings Thursday, Dec. 9 at 7 p.m. in Worthington Arena. The last matchup between the Cats and MSUB was in 2017 when the Cats clinched a 20 point win of 67-47. The Cats haven’t lost to the Yellowjackets since 2012.

After the series of games, sophomore guard Leia Beattie was named Big Sky Women’s Basketball Player of the Week. In her two games, Beattie averaged 14.5 points per game, with a career-high offensive output coming in her game against Sac State. "Leia's just getting warmed up," Binford said. "This honor is a reflection on the great team effort we had last weekend, playing together, and making the right plays. Leia was attack-minded and shot ready and made the most of her opportunities."

Beattie's mother, Kelly Pilcher, played at Montana from 1990-1994, and she was named player of the week on three occasions. Beattie’s player of the week honors make the mother/daughter duo the first to win such honors in Big Sky history.