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Tricia Lynne Bader Binford (née Bader; born February 26, 1973)[1] is an American former professional basketball guard who played for the Utah Starzz and Cleveland Rockers of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She is currently the head coach of the Montana State Bobcats. She played college basketball for the Boise State Broncos as a four-year starter at point guard, earning All-Big Sky Conference honors three times and setting the school's career assists record. She then played two seasons of professional basketball in Australia before being selected by the Utah Starzz in the fourth round of the 1998 WNBA draft. She played for the Starzz from 1998 to 1999 and for the Cleveland Rockers from 1999 to 2002. Following her playing career, she served as an assistant coach at Boise State and for the Utah State Aggies. She became the head coach of the Montana State Bobcats in 2005 and is the winningest coach in team history. Binford is also a four-time Big Sky women's basketball coach of the year.
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | February 26, 1973 Decatur, Illinois, U.S. |
| Listed height | 5 ft 4 in (1.63 m) |
| Listed weight | 125 lb (57 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school | Roaring Fork (Carbondale, Colorado) |
| College | Boise State (1991–1996) |
| WNBA draft | 1998: 4th round, 31st overall pick |
| Selected by the Utah Starzz | |
| Position | Guard |
| Number | 10, 11 |
| Career history | |
| As player: | |
| 1998–1999 | Utah Starzz |
| 1999–2002 | Cleveland Rockers |
| As coach: | |
| 1999–2001 | Boise State (assistant) |
| 2003–2005 | Utah State (assistant) |
| 2005–present | Montana State |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
| Stats at Basketball Reference | |
Tricia Lynne Bader was born on February 26, 1973 in Decatur, Illinois, and raised in Carbondale, Colorado.[2][3][4][lower-alpha 1] She attended Roaring Fork High School in Carbondale, participating in basketball, volleyball, and track.[2] She earned All-State honors three times in basketball and led the team to the 1989, 1990 and 1991 state basketball championships.[7] Binford was named the Colorado Player of the Year and a Street and Smith’s All-American her senior year in 1991.[3]
She also won five states titles in track.[7] Roaring Fork High named its "Three-Sport Athlete Award" after Binford.[7] She was inducted into the Colorado High School Activities Association Hall of Fame in 2017.[7][8]
Binford played college basketball for the Boise State Broncos as a point guard from 1991 to 1996, and was a four-year starter.[3][9] She played in 29 games during her freshman year in 1991–92, averaging 6.8 points, 2.6 rebounds, 2.3 assists, and 1.9 steals per game.[10] She appeared in 27 games during the 1992–93 season, averaging 11.3 points, 3.3 rebounds, a conference-leading 4.7 assists, and 2.3 steals, earning All-Big Sky Conference honors.[10][1] Binford played in 29 games in 1993–94, averaging 10.6 points, 3.7 rebounds, 4.8 assists, and a conference-leading 3.0 steals per game, garnering All-Big Sky recognition for the second consecutive season as Boise State advanced to the NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament for the first time.[10][1][9] She redshirted in 1994–95 after missing the entire season due to an ACL injury.[11] She played in 27 games her senior year in 1995–96, averaging 11.7 points, 2.7 rebounds, 3.9 assists, and 2.1 steals per game, earning All-Big Sky accolades for the third straight season.[10][1] Binford was named the 1996 Idaho NCAA Woman of the Year.[3]
Binford set the school record for career assists with 438 and finished second in steals with 259.[3][10] Boise State had a 76–36 record in the four seasons she started at point guard.[9] She graduated from Boise State with a degree in criminal justice in 1995.[3] Binford was also a four-time Big Sky All-Academic selection in 1992, 1993, 1994 and 1996.[9] Binford was inducted into the Boise State Hall of Fame in 2001.[3]
After her college career, she underwent double-knee surgery and then spent two seasons playing professionally in Australia, spending time with the Brisbane Blazers of the Women's National Basketball League, the Launceston Tornadoes of the South East Australian Basketball League and the Latrobe Demons of the North West Basketball Union (NWBU).[12][3][4][13] She had a quadruple-double in a 1997 NWBU game, recording 67 points, 14 assists, 10 rebounds, and 10 steals. Her 67 points also set the league's single-game scoring record.[3][13][5]
Binford was selected by the Utah Starzz in the fourth round, with the 31st overall pick, of the 1998 WNBA draft.[2] She played in 22 games during her rookie WNBA season in 1998 and averaged 2.1 points per game.[2] She appeared in seven games for the Starzz in 1999 and averaged 0.3 points per game.[2]
Binford was then traded to the Cleveland Rockers, for whom she played from 1999 to 2002.[14][6][2] She appeared in nine games for the Rockers in 1999, averaging 0.6 points, 1.2 rebounds, and 1.2 assists per game.[2] She played in 25 games during the 2000 season and averaged 1.9 points per game.[2] Binford also appeared in five playoff games in 2000, averaging 1.6 points per game, as the Rockers advanced to the 2000 Eastern Conference Finals.[2][15] She played in 19 games in 2001 and averaged 1.1 points per game.[2] She also played in one playoff game that season, totaling zero points and one rebound in four minutes.[2] She appeared in 18 games during her final season with the Rockers in 2002 and averaged 0.8 points per game.[2]
Binford was an assistant coach at Boise State from 1999 to 2001.[3] On April 22, 2003, she was hired as an assistant coach for the Utah State Aggies women's basketball team and served in that role during the 2003–04 and 2004–05 seasons.[16][3] Her coaching duties with the Aggies included recruiting, defense, and guards.[3]
On April 13, 2005, Binford was hired as the head coach of the Montana State Bobcats women's basketball team.[3] She led the Bobcats to the Big Sky regular season title in 2015–16, 2016–17, 2019–20, and 2022–23.[17] The Bobcats also won the Big Sky tournament title in 2016–17 and 2021–22.[17] In 2019–20, the Bobcats won a Big Sky record 19 conference games and advanced to the championship game of the 2020 Big Sky Conference women's basketball tournament but the game was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[3] They earned a spot in the NCAA tournament in 2016–17 and 2021–22 as well.[17] Binford was named the Big Sky women's basketball coach of the year in 2015–16 and 2019–20.[18] She was named the Big Sky women's basketball co-coach of the year in 2020–21, sharing the award with Seton Sobolewski.[19] Binford was the Big Sky co-coach of the year once again in 2022–23, sharing the honor with Mark Campbell and Loree Payne.[18] As of the 2023–24 season, she is the winningest basketball coach in school history for both men and women, having compiled a record of 329 wins and 249 losses in 19 seasons.[3][17] Her 207 conference wins are also the second most in Big Sky basketball history for both men and women, behind Robin Selvig.[3][lower-alpha 2]
Binford met her husband Todd Binford while she was an assistant coach at Boise State.[4] They have two children.[4]
| Season | Team | Overall | Conference | Standing | Postseason | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Montana State Bobcats (Big Sky) (2005–present) | |||||||||
| 2005–06 | Montana State | 3–23 | 2–12 | 8th | |||||
| 2006–07 | Montana State | 13–16 | 8–8 | T-5th | |||||
| 2007–08 | Montana State | 18–13 | 11–5 | T-3rd | |||||
| 2008–09 | Montana State | 15–15 | 8–8 | 3rd | |||||
| 2009–10 | Montana State | 18–14 | 9–7 | T-5th | |||||
| 2010–11 | Montana State | 17–14 | 11–5 | 3rd | |||||
| 2011–12 | Montana State | 19–11 | 10–6 | T-3rd | |||||
| 2012–13 | Montana State | 17–13 | 11–9 | 6th | |||||
| 2013–14 | Montana State | 15–15 | 10–10 | T-6th | |||||
| 2014–15 | Montana State | 15–15 | 9–9 | T-5th | |||||
| 2015–16 | Montana State | 21–10 | 14–4 | 1st | WNIT First Round | ||||
| 2016–17 | Montana State | 25–7 | 15–3 | T-1st | NCAA First Round | ||||
| 2017–18 | Montana State | 16–15 | 9–9 | T-7th | |||||
| 2018–19 | Montana State | 16–15 | 11–9 | 5th | |||||
| 2019–20 | Montana State | 25–6 | 19–1 | 1st | |||||
| 2020–21 | Montana State | 17–7 | 13–3 | 3rd | |||||
| 2021–22 | Montana State | 22–13 | 14–6 | T-2nd | NCAA First Round | ||||
| 2022–23 | Montana State | 20–11 | 13–5 | T-1st | |||||
| 2023–24 | Montana State | 17–16 | 10–8 | T-4th | |||||
| Total: | 329–249 (.569) | ||||||||
|
National champion
Postseason invitational champion
| |||||||||
Sources:[17]
- Some sources state she was born in Boise, Idaho.[2][5][6]
- The winningest men's basketball coach in Big Sky history, Randy Rahe, had 198 conference wins.[20][21]
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