Regardless of the loss, Morales called the NCAA Tournament experience amazing.
By Bill Lamberty MSU Athletics
In the blink of an eye.
That’s how Montana State head coach Tricia Binford described Ohio State’s blitz to begin the third quarter in the Buckeyes’ 71-51 NCAA Tournament win over MSU on Friday. The loss ended the Bobcats’ finest season, sending OSU to the tourney’s second round.
“They came out in that third quarter, really jumped on us super fast,” Binford said. “It was like a blink of an eye.”
The Bobcats led the Buckeyes 27-23 midway through the second quarter following 10 consecutive points by sophomore guard Natalie Picton. The Buckeyes then scored the final nine points of the second quarter and the first 15 points in the third quarter to grab a 47-27 lead.
“I thought we were more consistent with some of our transition defensive habits (in the first half),” Binford said. “And they jumped out on us immediately.
“They got by us and had some really, really easy looks,” she added. “And it happened too fast. I should have got the timeout after the six points instead of the nine points (to open the third quarter). I think at that point we got a little rattled. And that’s where it kind of blew open as far as really sticking with the process. It’s hard to be in that situation until you are with that speed that they’re going up against.”
Ohio State’s pressure defense forced 26 Bobcat turnovers, leading to 32 Buckeyes points, and limited MSU to 37 field goal attempts. The Buckeyes, on the other hand, converted 50.9 percent of their 55 shots. “I just thought I couple more possessions we could have gotten more of our traps and really got a lot more confidence with it,” Binford said. “But when they broke that open, it was just really difficult.”
Esmeralda Morales, the 2024-25 Big Sky Player of the Year, cited Ohio State’s defensive physicality as a deciding factor. “A lot of body, a lot of hands,” she said in describing how it felt to operate against the fourth seed of the Birmingham 3 Region. “I got hit in the face many times. It’s just (that I’m) a little bit shorter. But the biggest thing was their body. You could see it and sense it. They were being a little more aggressive when I was coming off screens, trapping. But the biggest thing was like their body.”
Picton called the experience “crazy. Like I said before, watching them from the TV doesn’t do any justice to playing on the court against them.”
Binford emphasized the importance of a quick start, and her team accomplished that. The first quarter ended where it started, with the teams tied, but it was a period of runs. With the Bobcats leading 12-10 with 4:26 to play in the opening stanza, three different Buckeyes combined for a 7-0 run to give OSU a 17-12 lead. A Katelynn Martin layup and an Issy Bunyan triple knotted the score as the quarter ended. The teams combined for 13-25 shooting in the first quarter, and also for 13 turnovers (eight by the Bobcats).
The second quarter opened with a six-point Buckeyes spurt, but Picton’s 10-0 run pushed the Bobcats in front 27-23. Within that run, Taylor Thierry picked up her third foul for OSU, and head coach Kevin McGuff earned a technical foul. Ohio State attempted only three shots in the period, making two, and the Buckeyes missed three of their four free throws.
After Picton made a layup to extend MSU’s lead to 27-23 at 5:07, the Bobcats didn’t score again for just over eight minutes of game time. Ohio State’s 9-0 run to close the half featured a pair of free throws by Jaloni Cambridge, a layup by conventional three-point play by Cotie McMahon, and baskets by McMahon and Cambridge.
Ohio State’s 32-27 advantage quickly exploded. The Buckeyes scored the first 15 points of the third quarter to take command, 47-27. Chance Gray hit three three-pointers coming out of the intermission. The teams played on even terms from that point on, but MSU never again pulled closer than 18 points.
Regardless of the loss, Morales called the NCAA Tournament experience amazing. “It felt like March Madness,” she said. “It just felt great. I loved the energy, especially when they were booing us. That’s what I love. It kind of just gets me going.”
The second quarter technical foul on the OSU coach drew a firestorm of displeasure from the partisan OSU crowd, with Picton on the receiving end as she stepped to the free throw line. She was unfazed. “I grew up watching basketball and everybody going into those tough games in March Madness,” the sophomore said. “And I think it was just fun hearing them booing me as I was at that line. I think it kind of motivated me to make those two baskets. It was just awesome. I loved it. I loved seeing them all like wave their hands all around. It was fun. That was a fun second quarter.”
Binford said that sequence provided one of her best memories of her third trip to the NCAA Tournament as the Bobcats head coach. “I think the biggest memory was when the crowd really got very upset in the first half and I thought our kids really were locked in and showed what we were capable of doing. We just need to put a full game together. That’s probably the biggest thing. But this week has been really special. These kids are just unbelievable kids. Really proud of them.”
Morales wrapped up her memorable season as a Bobcat with a game-high 20 points, Picton added 12. All five Buckeyes starters scored in double digits, led by Thierry’s 16 points. Ajae Petty grabbed seven rebounds for OSU, who plays Tennessee on Sunday to advance to the tournament’s round of 16.
The Bobcats finish with a Big Sky-record 30 wins, with the team’s fourth loss providing the largest margin of defeat this season. MSU won its eighth Big Sky regular season title and its fourth tournament crown in 2024-25. Binford said winning in the NCAA Tournament remains a goal for the program to chase. That starts, she said, with “not to play on somebody’s home floor for your first-round game.” But she praised her team’s mental approach. “They came in with a great mindset all week.”
