COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Montana State women’s basketball team largely outplayed Ohio State for the first quarter and a half, but the Buckeyes went on a big run in the middle two quarters en route to a 71-51 win in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday at Value City Arena.
The Bobcats, making their first March Madness trip since 2022, finished the first 30-win season in Big Sky Conference history at 30-4. MSU senior point guard Esmeralda Morales finished with a game-high 20 points.
After OSU’s Cotie McMahon scored the first two points of the game, Morales answered with a 3-pointer to give MSU its first lead. The Cats led by as many as four points in the first quarter, which ended in a 17-17 tie after Isobel Bunyan made a 3 with three seconds left.
MSU outshot OSU 54.5% to 50% in the first quarter, with a 3-of-6 mark from beyond the arc while OSU was 1 of 3.
A loose ball on OSU’s Taylor Thierry foul sent a wave of anger through OSU's home arena and resulted in a 3 from MSU's Natalie Picton. The refs called a technical foul on OSU head coach Kevin McGuff for arguing, and Picton sank both technical free throws. She made a layup 16 seconds later to put the Cats up 27-23, extending their run to 10-0.
OSU finished the half on a 9-0 run to take a 32-27 lead into halftime. The Buckeyes had a 52.2% field goal percentage at halftime, while the Cats’ fell to 40.9%.
The run extended to 24-0, giving the Buckeyes a 47-27 lead. MSU finished with as many turnovers as field goal attempts (eight) in the third quarter, making three shots while the Buckeyes made 10 in a 23-10 quarter. They led by as many as 25 points.
The Cats finished with a season-high 26 turnovers and a 40.5% mark from the field.
Morales made 5 of 7 shots from deep and committed a game-high five turnovers. Picton finished with 12 points, and Marah Dykstra added eight for the Cats.
Taylor Thierry led OSU (26-6) with 16 points, Chance Gray scored 15 (5 of 8 on 3s), McMahon also scored 15, Jaloni Cambridge had 12 points, six assists and six steals and Ajae Petty had 11 points and seven rebounds.
This story will be updated.
Get local news delivered to your inbox!
