by By Tom Schulz
Montana State sophomore Darian White narrowly missed her first career triple-double, scoring a career-high 24 points and pulling down a career-best 11 rebounds, while adding nine assists to guide the Bobcats to an 80-67 victory over Portland on Thursday afternoon in Chiles Center.
White, a product of Boise, Idaho, consistently broke a double-team, weaving her way through the full court press to set the tempo for Montana State (2-2). She notched 15 first-half points, connecting on six-of-nine from the field. Portland’s (3-3) Maddie Muhlheim’s three-pointer with 14-seconds left in the second quarter tied the contest at 32-all heading into intermission.
The Bobcats took a 49-41 advantage at the 3:42 mark of the third stanza as Tori Martell’s jumper capped a 12-0 Bobcat run. MSU’s lead, however, was short-lived, as the Pilots rattled off an 11-2 run to take a 52-51 cushion into the final frame.
Montana State held a 65-64 advantage with 5:29 left, before a Skye Lindsay jumper, coupled with Leia Beattie’s first collegiate three-pointer, ignited a Bobcat run that saw MSU outscore the Pilots 16-3 down the stretch to secure the victory. Lindsay and Beattie posted six and five points, respectively, as the Bobcats notched its first road win of the season.
“It was a great team win,” said MSU 16th-year head coach Tricia Binford. “We knew going in that Portland was going to cause a lot of problems. We watched a lot of film, but until you’re able to see it in real time and see how active and well-coached Portland is, it takes a bit to become acclimated getting into any kind of offensive flow.
“Fortunately, we have Darian White,” Binford said. “She is a tremendous ball-player. Darian handles the pressure well and with her ball-handling skills and speed is very tough to stop. She really elevated her game, and you could see the rest of the team’s confidence grow. I thought the fourth quarter was outstanding with contributions from everyone.”
Also in double-figures for MSU were Martell, Lindsay and Kola Bad Bear (Crow). Martell had just three points at intermission, but poured in 16 points in the second half, including a four-of-four effort from long distance to finish with 19 points. Lindsay and Bad Bear added 11 and 10 points, respectively.
“We challenged our posts to have two in double-figures, and they answered,” Binford said. “Tori also did a great job in the second half. Her quick trigger really gave us a spark, and we finally had some other pieces showing.”
MSU, who entered the game shooting 32.8% from the field, connected on 30-65 for 46.2%. In addition, the Bobcats went just one-of-12 from three-point range in the first half but went six-of-ten in the final 20-minutes.
