GREELEY, Colo. — A big first quarter allowed Montana State to take a commanding lead Thursday night, but the Bobcats had to fight to hold on for an 86-79 victory over Northern Colorado in their Big Sky Conference women's basketball opener.
The Bobcats put together a 24-4 run in the first quarter and eventually led 36-11 after the first 10 minutes, making seven 3-pointers along the way. But Northern Colorado outscored MSU 68-50 through the final three quarters to make it competitive.
The Bobcats led 69-52 entering the fourth quarter before UNC raced to 29 points in the final 10 minutes, pulling to within six points on two different occasions.
Issy Bunyan led MSU with 21 points on 8-of-11 shooting, including five 3-pointers. Taylee Chirrick contributed 15 points and a team-high seven rebounds. The Bobcats also got 13 points from Addison Harris and 11 more off the bench from Kadynce Couture.
The teams were fairly even on the stat sheet: MSU shot 48.5% to Northern Colorado's 49.2%; the Cats hit 10 3s while the Bears made nine. Montana State scored 27 points off of 27 giveaways and UNC had 26 points coming off 24 turnovers.
Heather Baymon hit six 3-pointers and had 26 points to lead Northern Colorado. Teammate Neenah George added 19 points before fouling out.
Montana State (8-4, 1-0 Big Sky) now heads to Flagstaff, Ariz., to face Northern Arizona on Saturday.
