(Editor's Note: Montana State Press Release)
BOZEMAN — Montana State senior Darian White recorded MSU’s first double-double of the season with 18 points and 11 rebounds to guide the Bobcats to a 72-65 victory over Idaho on Monday night in Worthington Arena.
White’s jumper in the lane with 2-minutes, 25-seconds remaining gave her 1,500 career points, making her just the fifth Bobcat in history to hit the milestone.
“I thought Darian really set the tone for us,” said MSU head coach Tricia Binford. “She was solid on both ends of the floor and it’s nice to see her hit these career milestones.”
Montana State (12-7, 5-2) built its largest lead of the game at 62-52 with 7-minutes, 44-seconds left following a pair of free throws by Kola Bad Bear. Idaho (6-11, 2-4) answered with back-to-back three-pointers rattling off a 12-1 run to stake a 64-63 advantage with 3-minutes, 56-seconds remaining.
MSU’s Katelynn Limardo stepped to the line and nailed two free throws 14-seconds later to give the Bobcats a one-point lead and Montana State closed out the game on a 9-1 run. Limardo scored seven points down the stretch and her 3-pointer with just under two minutes left secured the Bobcat victory.
“We had great effort from everyone,” Binford said. “We won the rebounds and the foul line and those were two big goals heading into the game. I thought we did a nice job working inside-out.”
The game featured 13 lead changes and five ties as MSU held a slim 35-34 lead at intermission. Lexi Deden and White paced the Bobcats in the opening half with eight and seven points, respectively.
Deden finished the game with 11 points and Limardo just missed her first career double-double with nine points and 10 rebounds.
MSU held a 47-32 advantage under the boards and connected on 21-24 from the line. The Bobcats shot 40% from the field, including three-of-12 from beyond the arc. Idaho hit 35.5% from the floor and went 10-38 from long distance.
UI’s Beyonce Bea led all players with 27 points, while adding eight rebounds.
