MOSCOW, Idaho — Montana State's women jumped out to a 16-point first-quarter lead on the way to a 51-46 road victory over Big Sky Conference opponent Idaho on Saturday.
Neither team shot particularly well — MSU finished at 37.7% and Idaho shot 36.2% — but Madison Hall went 7 for 10 and finished with 16 points to pace the Bobcats, who won their fourth consecutive game.
Montana State started with an 8-0 advantage and took a 20-4 lead on a layup by Natalie Picton with 2:29 remaining in the first quarter. The Bobcats led from start to finish.
“It was huge to get off to a good start,” MSU coach Tricia Binford stated in a press release. “(We) knew they could claw their way back into the game. We just needed to stay the course. I thought we hit some clutch shots, and we did a good job getting the ball into our veterans’ hands down the stretch.”
Picton and Taylor Janssen each added nine points for MSU. Janssen pulled down six rebounds. Marah Dykstra had eight points and seven rebounds for the Cats.
Idaho's Asha Phillips led all scorers with 18 points while shooting 3 for 5 from beyond the arc. Phillips also had nine rebounds. Kennedy Johnson finished with 11 points and seven boards for the Vandals.
Montana State, now 13-10 overall and 7-3 in the Big Sky, are back at Worthington Arena for games Thursday versus Northern Colorado and Saturday against Northern Arizona.
