BOZEMAN, Mont.—The Idaho women dropped its seventh straight game to Montana State on Saturday, 80-64. The Vandals struggled early in the contest, unable to fight back from an early 15-point hole.

How it Happened
Montana State (10-4, 3-1 BSC) used its home-court advantage on Saturday. The Bobcats enjoyed a hot start shooting 53 percent in the first quarter. Peyton Ferris, burned Idaho for 12 points. MSU hit 10 field goals, while the Vandals struggled to get any shots to fall. The Vandals hit three field goals in the quarter, shooting 0-for-9 from 3-point distance.

Idaho (6-8, 1-2 BSC) got its first 3 of the afternoon off a Mikayla Ferenz deep jumper at the 7:26 mark of the second, cutting the Bobcat lead to 27-11. The Vandals fared better in the second, shooting 27 percent (4-of-15) from the field. Geraldine McCorkell hit Idaho's only other 3 of the half to get within 13 points, 27-14, with 5:38 to play. MSU put together a 7-2 run to close the quarter, leading 36-18.

The Silver and Gold would cut the Bobcat lead back down to 13 with three early points from McCorkell at the start of the third. Annika Lai converted an old-fashioned three point play to put Montana State back up by 20 with 6:38 left in the quarter. Idaho again cut the lead to 13, but a Riley Nordgaard 3 pushed the Bobcats back to a 20-point lead with under 2:30 to go.

Ferris gave MSU its largest lead of the day, 62-39, with 6:14 to play in the fourth. Idaho hit five of its eight 3-pointers in the final quarter. Ferenz was good on step-back 3 to cap a 7-0 run for Idaho, cutting the MSU lead down 66-52 with 4:43 remaining. Taylor Pierce hit her first 3 of the night to keep Idaho within 14, 78-64, with 4:15 to play. The Vandals would get within 14 twice more before the final whistle.

Ferenz recorded her first career double-double in the loss. She ended the day with 19 points and 10 rebounds. McCorkell added 17 points. Pierce finished with 14 points, all but two coming in the fourth quarter.

Ferris led Montana State with a game-high 22 points in just 18 minutes. Lai ended the day with 15 points, helping MSU outscore Idaho 37-20 from the bench. The Bobcats totaled 16 more rebounds on the day, winning the glass 54-38.

Key Factor(s)
Idaho's first quarter was not typical Vandal basketball. Idaho struggled to put points on the board and had a hard time keeping Montana State off the glass. The Vandals scored just eight points in the opening quarter. A 0-for-9 start from 3-point range in the first handcuffed the Vandal offense, as they took more than half their shots from behind the arc.

Montana State's rebounding was also limited the Vandals. The Bobcats out-boarded Idaho 17-8 in the period. MSU got six second chance points in the frame, while outscoring Idaho 12-2 in the paint.

Notes
Idaho now has at least one 3FGM in 275 consecutive games…the Vandals have not swept the Montana schools on the road since 1985…Idaho 14 FTM tied a season-high…Montana State's 80 points are the third most scored by an opponent this season…Ferenz has now hit 19 consecutive FTs…Pierce currently has 122 career 3-point field goals, 10th all-time…Ferenz now has 114 career 3's, 11th all-time.

Quotes
Head coach Jon Newlee
On falling behind in the first quarter
"Our start to the first quarter killed us. Absolutely killed us. We had great looks early just did not knock them down. I think it affected our defense a little bit. [Peyton] Ferris really hurt us in the first quarter. She is a great player and we did not do a very good job on her."

On rebounding
"Offensive rebounds hurt us a lot. We knew that was going to happen if we did not block out and keep them off the glass. Unfortunately, it has been a common theme this year for us. We lost a couple of really good rebounders from last year's team and we have not been able to fill that role."

On play of team after the first quarter
"After halftime we talked about relaxing and not trying to do too much. We had some players taking some bad shots, trying to do too much themselves. I told them, 'I do not see Michael Jordan in this room. One person is not going to win this game.' I thought we did a much better job in the second half of passing the ball around."

On shots not falling
"There were times I looked up and saw that ball go halfway down before coming all the way out. I was like, 'man you have got to be kidding me.' I will take those shots any day. We just had a couple people who were really cold today and it was really with shots that they would normally knock down. To win on the road you really need to shoot a good percentage. It was not our best effort, but they [MSU] played really well. We will see what happens in a couple of weeks when we get them back at home."

Upcoming
Idaho will play its first home Big Sky contests of the year next week. The Vandals will host Weber State on Jan. 12 and Idaho State on Jan. 14. Idaho will play nine of its remaining 15 games in the Cowan Spectrum after playing 12 of its first 14 games away from Moscow.

For more information on Idaho Athletics, visit GoVandals.com.  Fans can also follow Idaho women's basketball on Twitter, @VandalsWBB.