WBB vs NAU

[Catfanatic84]

A little early, but thought we should get this started...massive game coming up in the Brick...our 10-0 Bobcats and 8-1 Lumberjacks....Cats took the first one in Flag 87-81. Jacks haven't lost since. Should be a heckuva game. Hoping for a big crowd!

[MSU01]

The Bobcats jumped from #63 all the way up to #55 in the Net rankings after yesterday's emphatic win. NAU is #85 which is still pretty damn impressive for a Big Sky team. I don't think it would be overstating things to say that this will be the biggest regular season game in the Big Sky in quite some time. It's almost too bad it's on Thursday, as I think a Saturday game would draw a huge crowd.

[rfischer94]

I'm telling all my students! Maybe I'll get a few of them to come.

[Bobcat4Ever]

I'm telling all my students! Maybe I'll get a few of them to come.

Excellent! In my time as an MSU student I don’t think I ever heard athletics mentioned in a classroom — like there was a constitutional separation enforced or something. I enjoy your involvement. There is another faculty member who Xes about the women’s team, and she sounds like a good fan. I think athletics needs to promote their product on campus more — it certainly doesn’t sell itself at a high rate. The MSU community is fortunate to have such quality coaches and students representing them. And the women’s team has become so entertaining. I’m still stunned by some of these recent performances. 20-2?

How does this ‘24-‘25 team stack up against the ‘19-‘20 team that went 19-1 in the Big Sky?

[MSU01]

How does this ‘24-‘25 team stack up against the ‘19-‘20 team that went 19-1 in the Big Sky?

I think they stack up very well. The '19-'20 team only went 2-5 in non-conference play against D-1 opponents while this year's team was 8-2. Definitely an easier non-conference schedule overall this year with more home games, but this year's team also has several quality neutral court and road wins (UCF, East Carolina, @FGCU) that the '19-'20 team wasn't able to accomplish in its opportunities. I also think the overall level of competition in the Big Sky is higher now than it was 5 or 10 years ago. Of course, this team has an 'incomplete' grade at the moment as there are still 8 games left to play in the regular season plus the Big Sky Tournament. I'm fully expecting two more matchups with NAU, this Thursday and then again in the Big Sky Championship game. The results of those games will go a long way towards defining how the '24-'25 team is viewed in the future in terms of where they stack up among the best MSU and best Big Sky Conference teams.

[Bobcat4Ever]

Thanks @MSU01. I only got to see the ‘19-‘20 team live once, at Southern Utah in a 16-pt win. That team was a more veteran, polished team with the likes of Martha Kuderer, Madeline Smith, Blaire Braxton, Oliana Squires, Darian White, Kola Bad Bear, Tori Martell, Gabby Mocchi, Madison Hall and the Big Sky MVP Fallyn Frieje. The win over SUU was surgical. A few points up at the half and all of a sudden in the third the lead was 12-15 and the game was over. That team was playing closer to their maximum potential with five seniors and a bunch of young stars. So sad that because of covid we’ll never know the ceiling. Their pre-conference was nasty. I remember they took Minnesota, Wichita State and Texas A&M with Gary Blair deep into the final minutes with chances to win them all. They lost to Gonzaga by 15. When I see that lineup again — wow — but not the extreme depth of the current team. Fallyn Frieje was the X factor.

I only got to see this current team play twice at the Las Vegas classic. They surprised both teams with their defense and jumped to solid leads which they then gave back. The impressive part was that they recovered and won both games. Especially the Big XII team USF was a real challenge. East Carolina was undefeated at that time, but the schedule was not quite as tough this year with two major conference teams vs. four in 2019-2020. This year’s team because of their youth and missing two seniors until lately is certainly further from reaching their ceiling.

The 2020 team had a very good defense and an excellent offense. The current team has an excellent defense + Taylee Chirrick but not as good an offense — yet.

If this team gets everyone dialed into the offense and picks up their shooting percentage, they would be close to as good as 2020 but not as explosive. They averaged 104 points per game on a four game binge in the second round of conference putting up 107, 98, 92 and 113.

I believe this current team can be better than the 19-1 team because of a superior defense and superior athletic depth. This is Coach Binford’s best group of athletes and they are getting better!

Go Cats!

[4Mare]

Football championship banner reveal during halftime of the WBB Cats vs. NAU game is a great way to help w/ attendance. Before the game, the guys will also be signing and taking photos with fans.

[MSU01]

Football championship banner reveal during halftime of the WBB Cats vs. NAU game is a great way to help w/ attendance. Before the game, the guys will also be signing and taking photos with fans.

Very cool, in the past they've always done this during Cat/Griz, but fans will show up for that game either way. Love that they're pulling out all the stops to get as many fans as possible in the Brick on Thursday. Great chance to get some people to check out women's basketball for the first time who will hopefully like what they see and keep coming back for more!

[Bobcat4Ever]

This is quite likely the regular season conference championship game. If you are anywhere near Bozeman get out and Blast the Brick. This has become the latest rivalry for supremacy in the conference.

The ‘Cats must keep the wood choppers off the free-throw line. How ironic is this — the teams are 53rd and 54th in the nation in free throw percentage made — dead tied at 75.32%.

However, NAU has attempted considerably more, by 466-393.

[WyomingGrizFan]

This is quite likely the regular season conference championship game. If you are anywhere near Bozeman get out and Blast the Brick. This has become the latest rivalry for supremacy in the conference.

The ‘Cats must keep the wood choppers off the free-throw line. How ironic is this — the teams are 53rd and 54th in the nation in free throw percentage made — dead tied at 75.32%.

However, NAU has attempted considerably more, by 466-393.

Hope you guys win it!

[MSU01]

This is quite likely the regular season conference championship game. If you are anywhere near Bozeman get out and Blast the Brick. This has become the latest rivalry for supremacy in the conference.

The ‘Cats must keep the wood choppers off the free-throw line. How ironic is this — the teams are 53rd and 54th in the nation in free throw percentage made — dead tied at 75.32%.

However, NAU has attempted considerably more, by 466-393.

If NAU wins I can see this ending up being a repeat of the 1993 season when UM and MSU split against each other but both ran the table against everyone else. That year the tournament host and #1 seed was decided by a coin toss...if it happens again this year the #1 seed would be decided by NET ranking, not that it matters too much with the neutral site tournament now.

[rfischer94]

This is quite likely the regular season conference championship game. If you are anywhere near Bozeman get out and Blast the Brick. This has become the latest rivalry for supremacy in the conference.

The ‘Cats must keep the wood choppers off the free-throw line. How ironic is this — the teams are 53rd and 54th in the nation in free throw percentage made — dead tied at 75.32%.

However, NAU has attempted considerably more, by 466-393.

Faculty and staff get in free - just bring your id.

[Bobcat4Ever]

This is quite likely the regular season conference championship game. If you are anywhere near Bozeman get out and Blast the Brick. This has become the latest rivalry for supremacy in the conference.

The ‘Cats must keep the wood choppers off the free-throw line. How ironic is this — the teams are 53rd and 54th in the nation in free throw percentage made — dead tied at 75.32%.

However, NAU has attempted considerably more, by 466-393.

Hope you guys win it!

Thank you. You are a wise fan … mostly.

[Bobcat4Ever]

This is quite likely the regular season conference championship game. If you are anywhere near Bozeman get out and Blast the Brick. This has become the latest rivalry for supremacy in the conference.

The ‘Cats must keep the wood choppers off the free-throw line. How ironic is this — the teams are 53rd and 54th in the nation in free throw percentage made — dead tied at 75.32%.

However, NAU has attempted considerably more, by 466-393.

Faculty and staff get in free - just bring your id.

That’s usually a pretty good promotion, as long as they really market it. It’s how we got started with volleyball. I picked up our tickets, and we had no idea what to expect, other than they were good that (Gantt) year. After watching Anne Watts blast balls all over Shroyer, we were hooked. Season tickets for quite a long time. It’s a really good idea, to sell your product on campus.

[gtapp]

I have espn+ but cannot watch it live due to a prior engagement. Can you go back and watch games once they are over?

[MSU01]

I have espn+ but cannot watch it live due to a prior engagement. Can you go back and watch games once they are over?

Yes, all ESPN+ broadcasts are available to watch on demand for a certain period of time after they air live. It's a very useful feature if you have to miss a game or when the men's and women's basketball teams play at the same time but you want to watch both games.

[Colter_Nuanez]

[gtapp]

What would be a really good crowd for this game? 4000?

[MSU01]

What would be a really good crowd for this game? 4000?

I'd say anything over 3,000 is good as that would match around what the men's team has been drawing for their games recently. If this game were on a Saturday instead of a Thursday I can see them potentially getting up to 4,000+. We will see, maybe Bozeman will show up and I'll be pleasantly surprised!

[rfischer94]

What would be a really good crowd for this game? 4000?

I'd say anything over 3,000 is good as that would match around what the men's team has been drawing for their games recently. If this game were on a Saturday instead of a Thursday I can see them potentially getting up to 4,000+. We will see, maybe Bozeman will show up and I'll be pleasantly surprised!

When they did CatGriz volleyball in the Brick for the first time in a long time (about 3 years ago), the school promoted the hell out of it, and that place was nearly full. I would say they're promoting this game almost as much, so I wouldn't be surprised by 4000+.