by Tom Schulz
Montana State head coach Tricia Binford captured her 300th career victory as five Bobcats reached double-figures led by Darian White’s game-high 25-point performance en route to a 92-84 win at Eastern Washington on Saturday afternoon.
Montana State (8-6, 1-1) jumped out to a 22-4 lead after the opening quarter and held a 15-point advantage at intermission. The Bobcats were sparked in the opening half by White and Lexi Deden with 10 and eight points, respectively.
“We put a lot of responsibility on Darian’s shoulders,” Binford said. “She came out very aggressive on both ends of the floor and really set the tone for us.”
Eastern Washington (7-5, 0-2) grabbed the momentum coming out of halftime connecting on 12-of-16 from the field in the third quarter to cut the margin to two points with 30-seconds left in the period. MSU’s Madison Jackson nailed a pull-up jumper as the buzzer sounded to give the Bobcats a 59-54 lead heading into the final frame.
The Eagles opened the final quarter on a 10-4 run taking its first lead on a three-point play by Camille Jentzsch with 7 minutes, 20 seconds left in the contest. The game was tied four times midway through the quarter before a pair of White free throws with 4 minutes, 31 seconds left gave MSU the lead for good. The Bobcats closed out the final four minutes connecting on 9-of-12 from the line.
“We were able to use our depth and experience,” Binford said. “We mixed some things up with Lexi and Madison starting for us today and they really helped set an aggressive style of play. I thought Lexi and Kola (Bad Bear) did a phenomenal job in the post and Madison was super solid.”
White finished the contest connecting on 10-of-15 from the field for a season-high. She also chipped in five rebounds, five assists and three steals. Also in double-digits were Deden 16, Bad Bear 15, Jackson 12, and Leia Beattie 11.
MSU shot 51.4% from the field, connected on two-of-15 from distance and converted 18-of-21 from the line. The Bobcats also held a 37-31 advantage under the glass led by Deden and Bad Bear with seven and six rebounds, respectively.
EWU was paced by Jaydia Martin with 22 points and 10 rebounds.
With the victory, Binford becomes just the third coach in Big Sky Conference history to record over 300 wins in the league, joining Robin Selvig (865, 38 years) and Carla Taylor (308, 23 years). Binford is also MSU’s winningest coach in either men’s or women’s basketball history.
