Montana State women’s basketball coach Tricia Binford has signed a three-year contract renewal to remain at the helm of the Bobcat program, announced MSU Director of Athletics Leon Costello on Wednesday morning.
“The Montana State women’s basketball program has achieved milestones on the court and in the classroom under head coach Tricia Binford,” Costello said. “She is a great recruiter, teacher and mentor and I am excited for the future and continued growth of our women’s basketball program under her leadership.”
Since the 2007-08 campaign, Binford has not had a losing season. In the last four years, she has averaged 19.5 victories, including back-to-back 20-win campaigns in 2015-16, 2016-17. The 2016 Bobcats advanced to the WNIT where they faced Utah, while the 2017 team won the Big Sky tournament for the first time since 1993 and played in the NCAA First-Round at Washington. Both squads won regular-season Big Sky titles.
Currently, the Bobcats are 9-6 overall and sit atop the Big Sky Conference standings with a 5-1 record. MSU was the preseason favorite to win the league in both the coaches and media polls.
“My family and I are so blessed and thankful to be part of such a special place as Montana State University, Bozeman and the state of Montana,” Binford said. “The support of the community, the inspirational leadership of President Cruzado and the energetic and enthusiastic guidance of Leon Costello is second to none. I’m overwhelmed by the support shown to our program and the investment in our student-athletes.
“I also get to work alongside the very best staff on a daily basis,” Binford added. “They challenge me to be better. And, finally, to all the players that I’ve been privileged to coach, you truly inspire me every day with your work ethic and commitment to the program. We still have a lot to accomplish and I am as motivated today as the first day I took the job.”
In her 15th season with the Bobcats, Binford is the all-time winningest women’s basketball coach in Montana State history with 237 victories. She is currently the second longest tenured head coach in the 11-member Big Sky Conference where she has registered 143 wins. Only Eastern Washington’s Wendy Schuller, currently in her 19th season, has been in the league longer.
In her 15 years at MSU, Binford has produced a whopping 97 Big Sky Conference All-Academic honorees; 31 Big Sky Conference Players of the Week; 25 All-Big Sky Conference performers; one Two-Time Academic All-America; five CoSIDA Academic All District VII recipients; two Big Sky MVPs – Jasmine Hommes and Peyton Ferris; two Big Sky Conference Defensive Players of the Year; three Big Sky Newcomers of the Year; one Big Sky Conference Freshman of the Year; two Big Sky Top Reserves of the Year; one All-America Honorable Mention in Katie Bussey in 2012; and four MSU/Big Sky Conference Female Scholar Athletes of the Year.
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