BOZEMAN — With football season coming to a close in Bozeman last week, the main focus now turns to basketball. Both the Montana State women and men are into the third week of Big Sky Conference play.
As Montana State coach Tricia Binford is in her 20th season at the helm, her team is off to a 14-2 start and is currently undefeated in Big Sky play.
On Saturday, the Bobcats took down the only other unbeaten team in the conference, Northern Arizona. Portland State transfer Esmeralda Morales had 30 points in the win and took home Big Sky player of the week honors.
The team also has a group of seniors — Katelynn Martin, Lexi Deden and Taylor Janssen — who decided this offseason to run it back for one final season.
"You’ve got experience out there that knows how to show up," Binford said. "They know how to take care of their bodies. They know how to recover, and so you’ve got that leadership in the locker room. You’ve got it when you’re traveling. That was a hard road trip, and for us to have success on the road, there’s a preparation and a recovery and a regimen to that. You’ve got kids that are well-oiled as far as the system goes and what we’re looking for, so it’s great leadership to have."
The Bobcat women return to Worthington Arena on Thursday to take on Idaho State at 7 p.m.
The Montana State men, who have made three straight trips to March Madness, will look to continue that streak this season.
They stand at 6-11 overall this season and grabbed their first conference win over NAU on Saturday. All three of their other conference losses were by five points or less.
And like the women, they have a special senior class in a final run in the blue and gold.
"You've got a nucleus that’s coming back as seniors, you know, Tyler Patterson, Sam Lecholat," Montana State coach Matt Logie said. "You really owe it to the program to go for it, you know, and chase history. To have the opportunity to compete for a fourth straight NCAA (tournament) appearance really sets a high bar, so we were looking for guys that wanted to be a part of something bigger than themselves."
The men are on the road at Idaho State on Thursday at 7 p.m.
