BIG SKY CHAMPS! Montana State Women Claim Tourney Title, Third NCAA Tournament Berth

Friday, March 11

Boise, Idaho

1 p.m.

Montana State University

22-12,14-6Big Sky

#4 Northern Arizona

17-14,12-8Big Sky

Northern Ariz.

Montana St.

BIG SKY CHAMPS! Montana State Women Claim Tourney Title, Third NCAA Tournament Berth

3/11/2022 6:03:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Darian White leads Bobcats to the promised land

By: Bill Lamberty

BOISE, Idaho – Basketball teams can find many paths to success, from power basketball inside to a defense-first approach to a three-point bombardment.

For Montana State coach Tricia Binford, when a game is in its most crucial moments, there's one best option. "Put the ball in Darian White's hands," Montana State's 17^th-year head coach said not long after her Bobcats won the program's third Big Sky Conference Tournament Championship.

MSU beat Northern Arizona 75-64 on Friday, and as always, White – this year's Big Sky Tournament Most Valuable Player – led all players with 17 points while dishing out a game-high five assists and turning the ball over only once. She also grabbed three boards.

Friday's game featured wild momentum swings. The Lumberjacks jumped out to a 13-6 lead in the game's first six-and-a-half minutes, but Montana State answered with a 7-2 run to close the quarter and draw within 15-13. MSU outscored the Jacks 15-6 in the second quarter to take a 28-21 lead, then built that to 51-36 with 2:31 to play in the third.

And then momentum swung back. NAU scored seven straight points to end the quarter, and then scored the first 10 of the fourth quarter. The Bobcats went 6:31 without a point, covering eight possessions. By the time the drought ended the Cats trailed 53-51.

Bad Bear said the team has worked all year long to move on after bad plays or stretches. "I think that's where we work on the next play mentality and get on to the next play and focus on executing what Coach drew up."

And then, finally, the Cats righted the ship. White hit a short jumper to tied the score, then hit another to push MSU into the lead, then made two free throws and the Bobcats led 57-53 with five minutes to play. The teams traded baskets – White making one shot, All-Tournament Team honoree Kola Bad Bear another – and then things started to tip.

KJ Limardo's triple with 2:18 to play gave MSU a 64-59 lead, and then Leia Beattie's jumper answered two NAU free throws. White hit a pair of charity tosses to push the lead to 69-62, then Beattie hit two, and when Bad Bear blocked an NAU shot with 26 seconds to play the dancing began.

"(NAU) is a team that you're never up enough (against)," Binford said. "They can put points on the board very quickly. The game is a game of runs, and it's a championship game. They had a stretch where they kind of took control and we had to respond."

Montana State's bench contributed 19 points, but Bad Bear said the contributions went much deeper than statistics. "I thought they gave us the defensive stops, all the offensive runs, and made us want to play to their level," she said. "Lots of respect to them."

White doubled down on that sentiment. "I think that's what makes us so special, that we have such a deep bench. The starters had a little bit of a slow start so we came out and (the bench) picked up the pace and showed us what we needed to do and set the bar higher."

The win was all the sweeter because two years ago the Cats were on their way to a similar accomplishment when the season was shut down by the Covid-19 pandemic. White opened her portion of the post-game press conference by reading the names of the seniors on that team – current MSU assistant coach Blaire Braxton, Fallyn Frieje, Martha Kuderer, Madeline Smith and Oliana Squires – and Binford closed the proceedings by saying "they will always be part of us, but we're also going to celebrate this year's team."

The tournament win gives Montana State the automatic berth to the NCAA Women's Tournament. The field to that event is announced Sunday at 6 pm on ESPN. The Cats finish the regular season 22-12, while NAU falls to 17-14.

#GoCatsGo