BOZEMAN — It didn't take Montana State long to impose its will on North Dakota on Saturday.
The Bobcats forced four turnovers, jumped out to a quick 7-0 lead and forced a Fighting Hawks timeout less than two minutes into the game. The early onslaught was a harbinger of things to come as Montana State rolled to a 99-57 women's basketball win in the Big Sky-Summit League Challenge inside Worthington Arena.
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MSU started the game on a 22-2 run and led 29-9 at the end of the first quarter. Star guard Taylee Chirrick, who has won back-to-back Big Sky Conference player of the week honors, scored 12 points in the first period alone.
Chirrick, a 5-foot-11 sophomore from Roberts, finished with 17 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists, the first triple-double by a Bobcat since 2004.
"It's been a long time since we've seen a triple-double, and Taylee just continues to repeat and steps on the floor and impacts the stat sheet," MSU coach Tricia Binford said. "She's always going to set the tone for us on both ends of the floor, but she is a tremendous competitor."
The Cats had eight steals on 11 UND first-quarter turnovers.
And if MSU wasn't turning turnovers into points, Teigan Erickson was dominating in the half court. The sophomore forward from Saco scored eight consecutive points in the first quarter — on two 3-pointers and a sweet pull-up jumper — and had 19 in the first half. She was 8-of-12 shooting, including a 3-for-4 effort behind the arc.
MSU led 56-21 at the halftime break.
The second half brought more of the same. North Dakota turned it over seven times in the third quarter, and Isobel Bunyan made three 3s in the period for Montana State. It was 81-38 going to the fourth, and the Bobcats coasted to their sixth win.
Erickson finished with a career-high 27 points on 11-of-17 shooting and 5-of-6 mark from 3-point range. Addison Harrison, another sophomore, chipped in 19 points. Eight different Bobcats found the scoring column.
As a team, Montana State made 41 of 77 field goal attempts (53%) and 13 of 27 3-point tries (48%). The Bobcats had 30 assists — 10 from Chirrick and seven from Jamison Philip to lead the way.
"The thing that we celebrate the most is each other, and I think you're seeing a lot of humble kids that have a lot of fun playing for each other," Binford said. "And when you get out of your own way and you're playing for your teammates, a lot of great things can happen."
North Dakota attempted only 46 shots thanks to 25 turnovers, which the Cats turned into 35 points. MSU also had 16 offensive rebounds leading to 15 second-chance points.
Montana State (6-2) is off for seven days before playing at Oregon on Dec. 14.
