Dec. 29, 2022 – MOSCOW, Idaho – Idaho jumped out to an early 9-2 advantage and never relinquished its lead en route to a 72-53 win over Montana State in the Big Sky Conference opener for both schools on Thursday night in ICCU Arena.
Idaho (5-7, 1-0) turned nine Montana State (7-6, 0-1) first half turnovers into 13 points and connected on six three-pointers to build a 35-20 lead at intermission.
The Vandals built its largest lead at 58-34 with 2:08 remaining in the third quarter. The Bobcats whittled the margin to 19 points with just over two minutes left in the contest on a Dylan Philip layup but would get no closer.
“Idaho came out tough and we didn’t respond,” said MSU head coach Tricia Binford. “Once they got hot, it was tough to slow them down.”
MSU was led by Kola Bad Bear and Lexi Deden with 11 and 10 points, respectively. As a team, the Bobcats shot 37.1% from the field, but went just three-of-11 from long distance.
Idaho hit for 37.9% from the floor, including a 12-of-41 effort from beyond the three-point line. The Vandals held a 45-36 advantage under the glass as Beyonce Bea pulled down seven rebounds to go along with a game-high 20 points.
The Bobcats were led under the boards by Deden with a season-best nine rebounds. Darian White finished with nine points, moving her into eighth on MSU’s all-time scoring list with 1,417 career points. The senior from Boise, Idaho also chipped in five assists and four rebounds.
The loss was the first Big Sky opening game setback since the 2015-16 season for the Cats. MSU plays at Eastern Washington on Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m. (MT) in Cheney.
