The Bobcat Nation

Ausha Cole's high school teammate runs point for Weber.

Weber is a dangerous team if they can put two halves together. MSU needs to keep winning to put pressure on UM and UNC.

Portland State looks like they are going to hang on and beat Northern Colorado which should open the door for the Cats to reclaim first place with a win tonight.

PSU 67
UNC 60
Final

bpcats wrote:Ausha Cole's high school teammate runs point for Weber.

Weber is a dangerous team if they can put two halves together. MSU needs to keep winning to put pressure on UM and UNC.

Portland State looks like they are going to hang on and beat Northern Colorado which should open the door for the Cats to reclaim first place with a win tonight.

Weber gave the Cats a scare when they were in Ogden earlier this season (watched the game on BSTV), but MSU gutted out a win. Should be a good battle, but the Cats should win at home.

Cats are on a roll, we get such good production out of everyone, very balanced. When was the last time the Cats won the Big Sky conference regular season?

Very low scoring first half, MSU down 20-18. Good defense by both teams, but still a lot of missed shots. MSU is 0-fer from 3, and WSU has only hit one.

BSTV is VERY laggy and choppy. Anyone else having the same trouble?

grizzh8r wrote:Very low scoring first half, MSU down 20-18. Good defense by both teams, but still a lot of missed shots. MSU is 0-fer from 3, and WSU has only hit one.

BSTV is VERY laggy and choppy. Anyone else having the same trouble?

Yes, mine is buffering like every 10-15 seconds.

Gutted out another win, scoring 42 in the second half, 60-51 final. Fun team to watch!

Now comes a wicked road trip. Three games with UNC first and then ISU last.

I'm so impressed with this team, but Katie Bussey in particular. She is a sneaky good rebounder for a point guard. She comes from out of nowhere sometimes to steal a rebound or two. And she's only a junior! Pretty cool!

It looks like this team learned some lessons from the Cat-Griz games. They started slow in the last two games and then exploded offensively in the second half. They played really tough defense this weekend as well. This team has a special feeling to it. They remind me of the men's team in 2002 in that they just keep winning both at home and on the road.

The ladies play their next three on the road (at Northern Colorado Thursday, at Sac State Saturday, and again at Idaho State on Thur. 2/17). Two of those games will be very tough to win. If they win 2 out of 3, they'll be in great shape. If they win all 3, their next homestand could be a lot of fun and we could have a tournament in Bozeman. Needless to say, it has been a really fun season watching the women's basketball team play.

bozbobcat wrote:They remind me of the men's team in 2002 in that they just keep winning both at home and on the road.

Gosh I wish you hadn't said that!

I had the same thought and came to the horrifying conclusion that we will meet the griz in the tourney in Bozeman...just like the men did in 2002. We all know how that played out.

The lady griz do some things and have the personnel to disrupt the stuff that we did against NAU and Weber. Particularly the length of the griz's forwards keep us from moving the ball around and across the perimeter as quickly. Also the griz's weak side rebounding is much, much better than any other league opponent (that I know of).

That being said, we'd have a great chance if a rubber match were to happen.

BelgradeBobcat wrote:

bozbobcat wrote:They remind me of the men's team in 2002 in that they just keep winning both at home and on the road.

Gosh I wish you hadn't said that!

I had the same thought and came to the horrifying conclusion that we will meet the griz in the tourney in Bozeman...just like the men did in 2002. We all know how that played out.

The lady griz do some things and have the personnel to disrupt the stuff that we did against NAU and Weber. Particularly the length of the griz's forwards keep us from moving the ball around and across the perimeter as quickly. Also the griz's weak side rebounding is much, much better than any other league opponent (that I know of).

That being said, we'd have a great chance if a rubber match were to happen.

I may have to repent to the Bobcat gods for saying that.

I think it may help that they lost to the Lady Griz earlier in the season, as there won't be as much pressure to beat them three times in a season. We know that they're good, but we also know how to beat them. We can have some fun speculating this part, but there are still 7 other conference games left and two opponents that we haven't seen. We'll need to make some adjustments if Cat-Griz III happens. Wouldn't it be fun to face them for the conference title?

CelticCat wrote:Cats are on a roll, we get such good production out of everyone, very balanced. When was the last time the Cats won the Big Sky conference regular season?

I think it was 1993, when MSU actually tied UM for the title at 13-1. Since each team's only loss was to the other, none of the "normal" tie-breakers were applicable, so they flipped a coin. The Cats won the toss for the right to host the tourney, beat the Griz in the title game, and advanced to the Big Dance for the one and only time in their history, I believe.

John K wrote:

CelticCat wrote:Cats are on a roll, we get such good production out of everyone, very balanced. When was the last time the Cats won the Big Sky conference regular season?

I think it was 1993, when MSU actually tied UM for the title at 13-1. Since each team's only loss was to the other, none of the "normal" tie-breakers were applicable, so they flipped a coin. The Cats won the toss for the right to host the tourney, beat the Griz in the title game, and advanced to the Big Dance for the one and only time in their history, I believe.

The trophy from that championship is sitting in a display across from the football team's office in the Fieldhouse. The phrase "Tails Never Fails" is inscribed on the trophy. I think it could be another 1993, and wouldn't that be nice. I've avoided entering the men's basketball conversations as of late, reminding readers that it has been 15 years, but I'd be just as happy if the women's team won the Big Sky to move on to the NCAA tournament. It's been even longer for the women's team.

bozbobcat wrote:

John K wrote:

CelticCat wrote:Cats are on a roll, we get such good production out of everyone, very balanced. When was the last time the Cats won the Big Sky conference regular season?

I think it was 1993, when MSU actually tied UM for the title at 13-1. Since each team's only loss was to the other, none of the "normal" tie-breakers were applicable, so they flipped a coin. The Cats won the toss for the right to host the tourney, beat the Griz in the title game, and advanced to the Big Dance for the one and only time in their history, I believe.

The trophy from that championship is sitting in a display across from the football team's office in the Fieldhouse. The phrase "Tails Never Fails" is inscribed on the trophy. I think it could be another 1993, and wouldn't that be nice. I've avoided entering the men's basketball conversations as of late, reminding readers that it has been 15 years, but I'd be just as happy if the women's team won the Big Sky to move on to the NCAA tournament. It's been even longer for the women's team.

Umm, they also won it in 2001-2002, did they not? Lost in the BSC chipper (we won't talk about that), but then went on to beat Utah State in the NIT and then lost at Richmond.

grizzh8r wrote:

bozbobcat wrote:

John K wrote:

CelticCat wrote:Cats are on a roll, we get such good production out of everyone, very balanced. When was the last time the Cats won the Big Sky conference regular season?

I think it was 1993, when MSU actually tied UM for the title at 13-1. Since each team's only loss was to the other, none of the "normal" tie-breakers were applicable, so they flipped a coin. The Cats won the toss for the right to host the tourney, beat the Griz in the title game, and advanced to the Big Dance for the one and only time in their history, I believe.

The trophy from that championship is sitting in a display across from the football team's office in the Fieldhouse. The phrase "Tails Never Fails" is inscribed on the trophy. I think it could be another 1993, and wouldn't that be nice. I've avoided entering the men's basketball conversations as of late, reminding readers that it has been 15 years, but I'd be just as happy if the women's team won the Big Sky to move on to the NCAA tournament. It's been even longer for the women's team.

Umm, they also won it in 2001-2002, did they not? Lost in the BSC chipper (we won't talk about that), but then went on to beat Utah State in the NIT and then lost at Richmond.

I believe they tied WSU for the title that year, but lost the tie-breaker, so that WSU hosted the tourney. Didn't they lose the tourney title game to WSU two consecutive seasons, after beating UM in the semi-finals both years? That must have been 2001-02 and 2002-03?

I think we're mixing up the men's and women's teams, and their seasons in 2002. Both put a championship banner into the rafters those seasons.

Men: in 2001-02, the Cats went 12-2 in the Big Sky and won the league by 2 games over Eastern Washington. We all remember how the Big Sky tournament went. (All these years in therapy and I still can't talk about it... ). They received an NIT bid and beat Utah State on the road before losing at Richmond. Their final record was 20-10 with an 8-6 record away. That Big Sky season was amazing. I don't remember any other time where the Cats swept Weber, NAU, and the Grizzlies in the same year. MSU would finish with a losing record in 2002-03 and miss the Big Sky tournament. They would finish with a winning record the next season of 2003-04, but missed the tournament on a crazy series of tiebreakers. That season was so odd that 7-7 got second place in the Big Sky, and 6-8 (MSU's record) missed the tournament. Despite a 2nd place finish in the 2004-05 season, it seems like 2002 was the last season where MSU was really strong in men's basketball.

Women: The women also clinched the Big Sky title in 2001-02 by beating the Grizzlies in the final game. Weber State also had an excellent season, and the two teams tied, but Weber held the tiebreaker. The Lady Cats beat the Griz in overtime in the semifinals and lost to Weber in the championship.

The women had another impressive season in 2002-03, including a home win against Baylor in the non-conference season. They finished tied again with Weber State for the title, but lost out on a big chance to host the tournament by losing to a 2 win Sacramento State team in their final home game. The tiebreaker went to Weber State again, and the same story played out: they beat the Lady Griz in the semifinals only to fall against Weber in the final. However, MSU got a WNIT bid and ended their season at Colorado State, but finished with a 21-9 record. The bottom fell out shortly afterward, falling to .500 the next season and sinking even farther than that due to a certain coach. We've hashed this out on this board too many times before.

I hope that straightens out any confusion. 2002 was a very good year when looking around the Fieldhouse at championship banners.

Yeah-the women's team really looked to be rolling...and then all the coaching drama. But even with all that they've been darn competitive. I think Binford might be on the cusp of something big here. I hope we can keep her for a while, but even if we can't as long as the next hire is good and absent all the drama we had after Spoelstra left the program they should be real solid and one of the top two or three in the Big Sky every year.

John K wrote:

grizzh8r wrote:

bozbobcat wrote:

John K wrote:

CelticCat wrote:Cats are on a roll, we get such good production out of everyone, very balanced. When was the last time the Cats won the Big Sky conference regular season?

I think it was 1993, when MSU actually tied UM for the title at 13-1. Since each team's only loss was to the other, none of the "normal" tie-breakers were applicable, so they flipped a coin. The Cats won the toss for the right to host the tourney, beat the Griz in the title game, and advanced to the Big Dance for the one and only time in their history, I believe.

The trophy from that championship is sitting in a display across from the football team's office in the Fieldhouse. The phrase "Tails Never Fails" is inscribed on the trophy. I think it could be another 1993, and wouldn't that be nice. I've avoided entering the men's basketball conversations as of late, reminding readers that it has been 15 years, but I'd be just as happy if the women's team won the Big Sky to move on to the NCAA tournament. It's been even longer for the women's team.

Umm, they also won it in 2001-2002, did they not? Lost in the BSC chipper (we won't talk about that), but then went on to beat Utah State in the NIT and then lost at Richmond.

I believe they tied WSU for the title that year, but lost the tie-breaker, so that WSU hosted the tourney. Didn't they lose the tourney title game to WSU two consecutive seasons, after beating UM in the semi-finals both years? That must have been 2001-02 and 2002-03?

Nope. They lost to UM at home in the first round (I was wrong thinking they lost in the BSC Chipper) on a tip-dunk at the buzzer in 2002. I'll never forget that, though I don't remember which player it was... Trammel maybe? I thought it was Victor Ventors, but he didn't register any points in that game (according to the boxscore I found).

grizzh8r wrote:

John K wrote:

grizzh8r wrote:

bozbobcat wrote:

John K wrote:

CelticCat wrote:
I believe they tied WSU for the title that year, but lost the tie-breaker, so that WSU hosted the tourney. Didn't they lose the tourney title game to WSU two consecutive seasons, after beating UM in the semi-finals both years? That must have been 2001-02 and 2002-03?

Nope. They lost to UM at home in the first round (I was wrong thinking they lost in the BSC Chipper) on a tip-dunk at the buzzer in 2002. I'll never forget that, though I don't remember which player it was... Trammel maybe? I thought it was Victor Ventors, but he didn't register any points in that game (according to the boxscore I found).

I think we're still getting men's and women's mixed up here. I was referring to the women's 2001-02 and 2002-03 seasons, and you're obviously referring to the men's 2001-02 season....right??