San Francisco head coach Molly Goodenbour had already called two timeouts in the third quarter, but the game was slipping away quickly. After seeing Montana State’s Issy Bunyan drill back-to-back 3-pointers and her own player Amy Pateman travel with the ball, Goodenbour called her final timeout.
The Dons, with 3 minutes, 31 seconds remaining in the third quarter, had lost the ability to stop the game and regroup on its own terms, the result of the Bobcats swiftly monopolizing the momentum in the WNIT’s second round Sunday afternoon at Worthington Arena.
“This team is so competitive and they hate to lose,” MSU head coach Tricia Binford said. “So regardless of what the moment is, they’re going to come out and compete.”
Montana State’s middle quarters were its best. The second quarter helped brush aside a sluggish first quarter. And the blitz that followed in the third quarter provided some cushion for USF’s comeback attempt in the fourth.
Bunyan’s consecutive 3-pointers brought MSU’s lead to its apex, at 27 points, in the third, before the Bobcats settled for a 69-53 victory, the program’s first postseason win of any kind.
Montana State’s coaches and players recognized earlier this month that they had missed their opportunity to reach a second consecutive NCAA Tournament by losing to Idaho in the Big Sky Conference Championship game, but they also felt spurned by the NCAA-operated WBIT as a consolation prize. They carried that slight into the WNIT and delivered another suffocating defensive performance in a season full of them to accomplish one of the program’s goals of advancing in a postseason tournament regardless of its branding. And they did so in front of 2,238 fans.
“This was as fulfilling as I could ever expect, as far as our crowd behind them, the moment, embracing it, getting a win on our home floor in a postseason event,” Binford said. “And being able to share that with your community, that’s pretty exciting.”
The Bobcats pushed their record to 26-7, the second-most wins in program history behind only last year’s 30.
“A lot of great things that these young kids are accomplishing right now,” Binford added.
The Bobcats had to first overcome a poor-shooting first quarter (4 of 20 from the field). The Dons had opened an 11-4 lead before Brianne Bailey’s layup was followed by Taylee Chirrick’s 3-pointer at the buzzer to go into the second quarter trailing just 11-9. MSU restored some order by winning the second quarter 22-13 to lead 31-24 at the break.
But the third quarter was the Bobcats’ finest work. They scored the first 16 points of the frame, and clamped down on defense even more — forcing six turnovers before three minutes had elapsed.
USF’s Meghan McIntyre scored her team’s first points of the second half almost exactly midway through the third quarter, but Bunyan followed with 3s on two straight possessions to fully deflate the Dons (19-15) and force Goodenbour to call her last timeout to try to stem her team’s bleeding.
To no avail. The damage was done. MSU’s offense had found its rhythm, and the crowd was in full force.
“The crowd we got today was awesome, coming off of spring break too,” sophomore Taylee Chirrick said. “I don’t even know if I expected this big of a crowd, so definitely fueled off of it.”
Added sophomore teammate Addison Harris: “Big shoutout to Bozeman for supporting the women’s basketball team.”
Chirrick led MSU in points (15), rebounds (nine) and steals (six), and Harris backed her up with 14 points and a game-high four assists. Bunyan’s 12 points came on 4-of-7 shooting from deep, none bigger than her consecutive ones in the third quarter, which MSU won 27-10.
“She puts in the work every single day,” Harris said of Bunyan. “She’s out here shooting 3s before and after practice, so she deserves to take those shots, and any 3 she takes from wherever on the 3-point line is a good shot.”
Jamison Philip and Brianne Bailey each added eight points. Kadynce Couture scored five points and secured four rebounds, and Teagan Erickson added two points. Brooke Fatupaito scored three points and grabbed six rebounds with three steals. Ella Johnson provided two points, seven rebounds, two assists, one block and four steals.
San Francisco had a last-gasp comeback in the fourth quarter, trimming MSU’s lead to 12 points, before eventually fading.
MSU’s lead never looked to be in real danger, but Chirrick said the fourth quarter served as a good lesson for “making sure we’re consistent with all four of our quarters.”
USF received 20 points from All-West Coast Conference First Team pick Candy Edokpaigbe, though she battled foul trouble the whole game. Natasa Tausova was USF’s second-leading scorer with eight points. Montana State held the Dons to 31.3% shooting, their third-lowest mark of the season, and forced them into 28 turnovers, which are tied for the third-most.
With the win, the Bobcats have advanced to the WNIT’s Super 16, which will play its games Wednesday, Thursday or Friday of this week. MSU will play against the winner of Sunday’s game between Portland and Lamar, though a site has yet to be announced.
Regardless of what happens from here, the Bobcats were intent on celebrating their special moment in school history.
“This is obviously something this program hasn’t done yet,” Harris said. “We’ve never won in the postseason, so it’s really cool to get a chance to be a part of this.”