Bad Bear and White Guide Bobcats to Quarterfinal Victory

Tuesday, March 8

Boise, ID (Idaho Central Arena)

5:30 p.m.

Montana State University

20-12,14-6Big Sky

Weber State

11-20,6-14Big Sky

Weber St.

Montana St.

Kola Bad Bear recorded a career-high 23 points to guide the Bobcats to an 81-60 win over Weber State in quarterfinal action of the Big Sky Conference Tournament.

Photo by: Brooks Nuanez

Bad Bear and White Guide Bobcats to Quarterfinal Victory

3/8/2022 11:16:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Bad Bear had 18 points at the intermission and blocked one shot. She finished the night with a career-high 23 points.

By: Bill Lamberty

In truth, it was time for Dar.

Darian White, to be specific, Montana State's all-everything point guard who entered the third quarter of MSU's 81-60 Big Sky Tournament Quarterfinals against Weber State without a point. And while the Cats had blasted through a 31-19 second quarter deficit to take a 36-33 halftime edge, the game was about to blow wide open.

And it happened, said Bobcat coach Tricia Binford, almost by accident. "We actually talked about going through Kola (Bad Bear), she was 7-for-7, but when they were icing the ball screen Darian's basically taking what they show us. They were collapsing on Kola so that got her into her mid-range (game) and got her going. That's a credit to Darian."

On the first possession of the second half White hit a layup, then she turned a Wildcats turnover into a floating jumper, and then a pull-up jumper. But the time she missed a shot, a minute-and-a-half into the quarter, the Bobcats had stretched the lead to seven. A Taylor Janssen layup and two free throws from White, followed by a Janssen triple and a layup from White, and the Cats had taken command.

Binford said White's ability to flip a script provides a special feeling "It's just play call after play call, put it into her hands and she literally took over in that situation. And when Darian's getting going everybody else settles in, too, and plays off her playmaking ability."

Much of the reason White was able to dominate the third quarter was Bad Bear doing the same thing in the second. The junior post entered the second quarter with eight points on 3-for-3 shooting, then made all four of her shots from the floor – and her only free throw – leading into halftime. Bad Bear had 18 points at the intermission and blocked one shot. She finished the night with a career-high 23 points.

She got the Bobcats going early, sandwiching deep three pointers around a free throw to open the game. That offensive assertiveness, she said, does not come naturally. "I get yelled at if I don't shoot the ball when I'm open, and Darian gets on me a lot," she said with a smile. "So, it's like, 'No, I'm not passing that up.'"

Bad Bear's aggressiveness impressed her head coach. "I want to credit (Bad Bear)," Binford said. "She was an animal in the first half and really got us attack-minded."

Binford credited her team's resilience after Weber State played with a double-digit lead for much of the game's first 15 minutes. "We had a conversation about weathering the storm," Binford said. "When you have the bye, you have a little bit more butterflies the first time on the court. Defensively we had a lot of lost situations and then we kind of regrouped going into that second quarter and I thought the kids responded really well."

Another factor, according to Binford, was her team's ability to alter its defensive approach. "Weber State is very talented and very difficult to guard. We had to change up our defense, and I thought once we started doing that in the second half it got us some stops to establish a tempo offensively, get a little bit faster tempo."

White said that staying patient until offensive opportunities presented themselves was important, but so was finding other ways to help the team. "Definitely that, but also trying to focus on other things as well. We had a big meeting this weekend on focusing on one another, playing for one another, and I felt that really helped me today, having that mindset and moving on to the next play and playing for my teammates and playing for my coaches. That helped, and that worked."

The contributions of Montana State's bench weren't lost on Binford. "One of the traits for this team is that we're at our best when we get bench production. We have a really deep bench, and I thought the pace for us really paved the way to establishing some turnovers." The Cats forced 22 WSU turnovers and received contributions from a variety of players.

Regardless of all the other outcomes this was about us being in the moment and being tough for each other. I think the team play good team basketball today. While White scored 22 points, her fellow Boise area products Madison Jackson (two points) and Ava Ranson (four points, two steals) contributed defensively and with energy. Janssen extended her brilliant play off the bench, pouring in 14 points and snagging five rebounds.

Kori Pentzer led the way for Weber State, scoring 17 points, while Daryn Hickok added 10.

But at the end of the day, Montana State's depth and the brilliance of White and Bad Bear proved too much for the Wildcats to handle. With the win, MSU moves into the tourney's semifinal round on Wednesday at 8 pm, facing either Idaho or Southern Utah. The Cats are now 20-12 on the season.

#GoCatsGo