GREELEY, Colo. – Montana State’s Darian White matched a season-high 25 points to lead four Bobcats in double-figures as MSU led wire-to-wire en route to an 80-60 win over Northern Colorado on Saturday afternoon at Bank of Colorado Arena.
White finished the game connecting on 12-of-19 from the field, while pulling down a game-high eight rebounds, and adding six assists. Also in double-digits for Montana State (16-8, 9-3) were Kola Bad Bear 14, Katelynn Limardo 12, and Lexi Deden 10.
“Darian White was attack-minded, and her stat line was just ridiculous,” said MSU head coach Tricia Binford. “I thought Kola was assertive with her inside presence and our shooters were shot-ready.”
As a team, MSU shot a season-best 52.4% from the field, converting 33-of-63 from the floor. It marked just the third time this season MSU has shot over 50% from the field. The Bobcats significantly cut down on its turnovers with just eight miscues on the day, after giving up a season-high 23 at Northern Arizona on Thursday night.
Limardo opened the scoring with a three-pointer 14-seconds into the contest and the Bobcats never trailed, opening a 22-12 advantage in the first quarter. MSU entered intermission with a 43-28 advantage. Limardo, a junior from Silver City, N.M. went four-of-nine from beyond the arc as the Bobcats hit seven-of-16 from long distance.
Northern Colorado (10-12, 3-8) was able to cut the Bobcat margin to 12-points in the second half but MSU closed out the final frame shooting 75% (9-12) from the field. MSU finished the contest outscoring the Bears 34-16 in the paint.
The Bobcats took its largest lead at 80-58 with 3:04 remaining on a Deden jumper.
“It was a great bounce back win,” Binford added, referring to her team’s 79-50 loss to Northern Arizona in Flagstaff on Thursday night. “We did an awesome job sharing and taking care of the ball.”
MSU dished out a season-best 20 assists.
Delaynie Byrne paced UNC with 20 points and seven rebounds.
MSU hosts Weber State next Thursday night at 7 p.m. in Worthington Arena.
