2023-12-02 01:33:32
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Montana State is at the midway mark of its six-game road adventure which has already made stops in Grand Forks, N.D. and Cancun, Mexico. The Bobcats will begin the second stretch of away contests at Portland, Saturday, Dec. 2 at 6 p.m. (MT) in the Chiles Center. MSU stays on the road for the week playing at Washington on Tuesday at 6 p.m., and Saint Mary’s on Friday at 7:30 p.m. The Bobcats’ next home game is slated for Dec. 17 against Wyoming in Worthington Arena.
A LITTLE ABOUT MSU: Montana State spent its Thanksgiving participating in the 18th Cancun Challenge played at the Hard Rock Hotel Riveria Maya (Mexico) Convention Center. The Bobcats knocked off New Mexico 75-57 in its first game as senior Lexi Deden posted a career-high 23 points and hauled down a career-best 14 rebounds. MSU let one slip through its hands the next evening as James Madison took the lead in the final 11-seconds for the win. The Bobcats were paced by Deden and Katelynn Limardo with 14 points apiece.
A LITTLE ABOUT PORTLAND: Portland is 4-4 on the season after crushing Pac-12 foe Oregon 91-60 in the Chiles Center on Thursday night. Six players hit double-digits led by Maisie Burnham and Dyani Anaiev with 15 points, each. The win snapped a three-game UP losing streak which included a 66-65 setback to Big Sky Conference rival Northern Arizona on Nov. 24 at the Las Vegas Holiday Classic.
THE SCOUTING REPORT: Portland is 4-4 on the season after crushing Pac-12 foe Oregon 91-60 in the Chiles Center on Thursday night. Six players hit double-digits led by Maisie Burnham and Dyani Anaiev with 15 points, each. The win snapped a three-game UP losing streak which included a 66-65 setback to Big Sky Conference rival Northern Arizona on Nov. 24 at the Las Vegas Holiday Classic. To date, the Pilots are led by Burnham, a 6-0 junior guard, who averages 11.5 points per game, while shooting 39.7% from the field. She has also connected on 14-of-37 from long distance. Also averaging double-digits for Portland are Emme Shearer and Lucy Cochrane who average 11.0 and 10.6 points per game, respectively. The Pilots are led under the glass by Lucky Cochrane, who hauls down 7,4 rebounds per game. Portland is under the leadership of Michael Meek, who is in his fifth season on The Bluff. Last year, Portland recorded a 23-9 overall mark and a 15-3 West Coast Conference slate. The Pilots defeated Gonzaga in the WCC Tournament championship game and advanced to the NCAA Tournament, where it suffered an 85-63 setback to Oklahoma in UCLA’s historic Pauley Pavilion.
ALL JACKED UP: Madison Hall has played and started in all six games and is averaging 7.8 points and 2.7 rebounds per game. At the Cancun Challenge over Thanksgiving, she averaged 7.5 points and 3.0 assists as the Bobcats split with New Mexico and James Madison. This season, she had her best outing with 12 points, three steals, two assists and two rebounds in the season opener against BYU. Last season, Jackson played in 29 games, including 16 starts. Over the summer, she married Brayden Hall, a former MSU men’s basketball manager. Last winter, Hall tallied a season-best 12 points on two occasions, the last coming against Northern Colorado. Against the Bears, Jackson connected on 5-6 from the field, with two triples. For the season, she averaged 5.2 points and 2.0 rebounds per game. As a sophomore, Jackson had a career-high 20 points against Idaho State.
OH CANADA: Marah (MARE-ah) Dykstra has started 16-of-35 games as a Bobcat and is currently averaging 8.0 points and 5.8 rebounds per outing. Dykstra, who has started and played in all six games this season, has been in double-figures twice. Last Thursday night at the Cancun Challenge, Dykstra notched 10 points and dished out a career-high seven assists as the Bobcats defeated New Mexico 75-57. This fall, she notched her best game at Arizona State on Nov. 10, pouring in 17 points, while adding six rebounds, four assists and three steals. Last winter, the native of Vancouver, B.C., Canada averaged 3.7 points and 3.3 rebounds per contest, while shooting 38.2% from the field and 80.5% (33-41) from the free throw line. Last summer, Dykstra, a 6-2 forward, played for Team Canada at the 2023 FIBA U19 World Cup in Madrid, Spain, July 15-23. During this year’s offseason she navigated a year-long process and survived two rounds of cuts to make the final 12-player roster. Five players returned to the squad from the 2022 U18 Canadian team that competed in the Women’s Americas Championships in Buenos Aires, Argentina, of which Dykstra was a member. Team Canada cruised through pool play, defeating China 83-62, Czech Republic 66-61, Egypt 100-44, and Brazil 89-45. Dykstra averaged seven rebounds per game, the second-best mark of any athlete in opening round action. Dykstra finished World Cup play averaging 23.1 minutes, while chipping in 4.3 points and 6.0 rebounds per game.
THE PRIDE OF ROSEMOUNT: At the Cancun Challenge over Thanksgiving, Janssen came off the bench to averaged 7.0 points and 2.5 rebounds as MSU defeated New Mexico, before suffering a three-point setback to James Madison. She had her best outing against JMU recording 10 points, including a pair of three-pointers. On the season, the product of Rosemount, Minn., is averaging 6.2 points and 3.7 rebounds per game, while shooting 37.1% from the field. Janssen played in all 30 games and averaged 3.9 points and 3.1 rebounds per outing last season for the Bobcats. She notched a season-high 11 points against Northern Arizona on Jan. 7, 2023. Against the Lumberjacks, she went 3-of-6 from the field, hit one 3-pointer and was 4-of-4 at the line. Janssen pulled down a season-high seven rebounds against Providence (MT) in the season-opener. As a freshman, she connected on 20 straight free throws before missing a charity toss against Weber State. Janssen came up short of the all-time Bobcat record of 25 set by Rebecca Mercer during the 2007-08 season.
OUT ON A LIMB: Senior Katelynn ‘KJ’ Limardo has started all six games for the Bobcats and is averaging 12.8 points and 7.3 rebounds per contest. She has been in double-digits on five occasions, including a season-best 18 points as MSU fell to Arizona State on Nov. 10. Against the Sun Devils, Limardo went nine-of-nine from the line, while also adding four rebounds and two assists. Last week at the Cancun Challenge, she averaged 12 points and eight rebounds. Last year, she played in all 31 games and averaged 5.7 points and 3.4 rebounds per game. Against Saint Mary’s on Dec. 12, Limardo registered a career-high 21 points, all coming from beyond the three-point line. Her seven triples were the second most in a single game at Montana State, behind Tori Martell’s 8 3-pointers against North Dakota on Dec. 6, 2020. The product of Silver City, N.M. (a town where lawman Harvey Whitehall was the first to arrest Billy the Kid, known at the time under the alias Henry Antrim in 1875), is shooting 29.7% from the field and 82.4% (28-34) from the line. Limardo is first on the team with 11 3-pointers. She is shooting 30.6% (11-36) from long distance.
NEW KID ON THE BLOCK: Freshman Natalie Picton, a 5-5 guard from Welland, Ontario, Canada has played and started in all six games as MSU’s point-guard following the injury to returning letterwinner Dylan Philip. The freshman has filled the roll admirably, averaging 7.8 points and 2.8 assists per game. Picton has reached double-figures in three games, including 12 points against both San Jose State and North Dakota. Last week at the Cancun Challenge, she averaged 9.5 points and 4.5 assists per contest.
LOSING LEXI: Senior standout Lexi Deden has been lost for the season following a knee injury sustained in the fourth quarter of MSU’s contest against James Madison at the Hard Rock Hotel Riveria Maya (Mexico) Convention Center, over the Thanksgiving holiday. Deden led Montana State in scoring averaging 13.8 points and 8.3 rebounds per game and had just recorded a career-high 23 points and hauled down a career-best 14 rebounds in MSU’s 75-57 win over New Mexico. In three quarters against James Madison, she had already put up 14 points and six rebounds. For her efforts she was named Big Sky Conference Player of the Week. Deden indicated she will return to the Bobcats for the 2024-25 season.
HARD BLOCK CAFE’: Montana State ranks No.1 in the Big Sky Conference in blocks, averaging 4.83 per game. Individually, Marah Dykstra and Lexi Deden lead the league averaging 1.5 blocks per outing. MSU’s 4.8 bpg ranks 41st in the nation.
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