BOZEMAN — The first quarter was a small-scale look at the bigger picture of the Montana-vs.-Montana State women's basketball rivalry.
Be it the trend of this season or the larger landscape of recent history between the programs, this is true: the Bobcats have too much firepower.
The opening 10 minutes of Saturday's matchup saw MSU build a 14-point lead on the strength of suffocating defense, 14 takeaways and 56% shooting on the way to a 38-point win, 82-44.
The Bobcats jumped ahead 13-0 before the Lady Griz scored on a basket by Rae Ehrman, and 15 of MSU's 21 first-quarter points came off turnovers. The Cats feasted off 19 first-half turnovers by the Lady Griz.
In the end freshman Jamison Philip had 23 points and sophomore Taylee Chirrick added 19 to pace the Bobcats. Philip and Chirrick shot a combined 76% from the floor (16 for 21) and led the charge for a team that scored 39 points off of 32 Lady Griz giveaways.
The victory was Montana State's fourth in a row in the series and its 12th straight over Montana at Worthington Arena; the Lady Griz haven't won in Bozeman since
Further, it was the Bobcats' 19th win in the past 24 meetings between the programs. Montana State, riding high, improved to 12-4 overall this season and to 5-0 in the Big Sky. Montana, scuffling as top player Mack Konig sits out with a foot injury, is now 3-13 overall and 0-5 in the league.
This story will be updated
