The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

The Montana State University Bobcats made game two of their Bahamas Basketball Federation Summer of Thunder exhibition game look so easy against the Johnson’s Lady Truckers.

The Truckers, who took solace in the fact that hardly any of their key players were out in uniform, were blown away by the Bobcats, who wrapped up their two-game trip here with a 85-35 rout last night at the Kendal Isaacs Gymnasium.

Unlike the night before when they beat the Bahamas All-Stars 61-46, the Bobcats had four players in double figures as they took advantage of the smaller and less experienced Truckers squad, jumping out to a quick 7-0 lead that they increased to 27-4 at the end of the first break.

Montana State’s head coach Tricia Binford said it was the type of effort she expected from her Bobcats, who had to shake off their cobwebs in the first game after not playing for about two weeks.

¨Our turnovers were much improved and I think we played a lot of unselfish basketball, so I was very pleased with it,” said Binford, the former WNBA point guard with both the Utah Stars and Cleveland Rockets.

Binford, who brought the Bobcats here for the first time eight years ago when she took over the coaching job at Montana State, was more thrilled about how they started and finished the game.

¨The start is important and I think we got off to a great start, but our finish was strong as well,” she said. ¨We got everybody in and we played them in longer duration, so everybody was comfortable out there tonight.¨

Leading their attack, Riley Nordgaard, who played 20 minutes and 25 seconds, scored a game high 18 points with eight rebounds. Michelle Seltz scored 11 points and both Delany Junkemier and Jasmine Hommes had 10 points each with 10 and six rebounds respectively.

Haley Blodgett added nine points and seven rebounds, Hannah Caudill had seven points and both Peyton Ferris and Lindsay Stockton chipped in with six. Stockton is the daughter of former Utah Jazz point guard John Stockton, who was in the stands watching the two games.

None of the local players scored in double figures. Tracey Lewis, Melesha Peterson and Vernisha Moss, all helping out from the Super Value Cybot Queens, scored eight, seven and six points respectively, while Shavonya Adderley also chipped in with six.

Lady Truckers’ coach Penial Bain said not having any of his key players, except for Latoya Rolle, made a big difference in the outcome of the game.

“We had a makeshift squad, but the girls played hard. The ball just didn’t fall in the basket,” he said. “It turned out to be a wonderful experience, especially for two of our high school players (Adderley and Antonya Fertil) so that they can see the level that they need to be at. It would have been for all of our girls, even though this is out of season, for them to see where they are, when we have to play the foreign teams.¨

Bain could have certainly used some of his experienced players after they didn’t score until Peterson converted her pair of free throws for a 7-2 deficit.

The Bobcats went on a scoring spree from the outside, hitting a couple of three-pointers as they extended their lead to 22-2. Peterson scored on a jumper to cut the Truckers deficit to 24-4. But the Bobcats ended the period on another trey.

Just like they ended the period, Montana State opened the second quarter as Stockton sparked the rally with a baseline jumper for a 29-5 spurt. With 4:48 left before the half, Peterson hit a three-pointer to put the Truckers in double digits, trailing 34-10.

But the Bobcats continued to run the ball and they surged ahead 42-14 at the mid-point break.

Nothing much changed in the third as Montana State pulled away 50-14. Although Lewis canned a three-pointer on the next play, the Bobcats answered as Seltz responded with one of her own. They eventually pushed their lead to 65-23 at the end of the final break.

The Bobcats even applied a full court press to start the fourth and even though the Truckers managed to get pass the defence a few times, they didn’t make any significant dent in the lead.

Every time the Truckers made a slight run, the Bobcats were able to get one of their own and they coasted to an easy victory in the fourth quarter.

Considered about two areas from game one, Binford watched as her Bobcats limited their turnovers to just 14, compared to 23 for the Truckers. And they had a huge 51-24 advantage in rebounds.

Binford said that her team will have a well-deserved day off today when they will visit one of the orphanages in town before they settle down at Arawak Cay Fish Fry to wrap up their trip here.