The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bdtubbs@tribunemedis.net

With retired National Basketball Association All-Time assist and steals leader John Stockton in the stands cheering on his daughter, the Montana State Bobcats pounded the Ladies All-Stars 61-46 at the Kendal Isaacs Gymnasium last night.

It was the start of the Bahamas Basketball Federation’s 2015 Summer of Thunder exhibition games and the Bobcats will be out again tonight when they take on the New Providence Women’s Basketball Association champions Johnson’s Lady Truckers to close out their series of games.

The 53-year-old Stockton, who had a Hall of Fame career from 1984 to 2003 all with the Utah Jazz, said after watching the “up tempo” pace of the Bahamian women in the first half, he knew the Bobcats would prevail in the second half.

The Bobcats, back in the Bahamas for the first time since Tricia Binford became the head coach eight years ago after she completed her playing days in the Women’s NBA, opened a slim 31-27 lead at the half that they increased to 44-35 at the end of the third and they went on to step it up in the fourth for the win.

“This team is really, really competitive, exactly what we needed,” said Binford, who played with both the Utah Stars and the Cleveland Rockets in the WNBA from 1998-2002.

“They really put the pressure on us in the third and fourth quarters, which really challenged us, but we were really grateful that they gave us this opportunity to play and to help us get better with our programme.”

The Bobcats finished 15-15 in the Big Sky Conference last year and will be using this mini-series to work out some knits as they prepare for the upcoming season. It didn’t hurt that they had Stockton on the sidelines cheering for his daughter, Lindsay Stockton, the starting point guard who will be a senior this year.

“He’s definitely one of the better point guards in the world,” Binford said. “We learn from the John Stocktons of the world. He was really great and he kept it simple and was fun to watch. So we try to emulate that style of play.”

Lindsay Stockton, in 20 minutes and 44 seconds on the court, scored just one point, but she pulled down seven rebounds and dished out five assists for Montana State.

The Bobcats, however, got a big game in the paint from Jasmine Hommes who, in 25:39 minutes on the court, exploded for a game high 16 points with 11 rebounds. She was the only player in double figures, but Michelle Seltz added nine points; Riley Nordgaard contributed eight points with 12 rebounds and Hannah Caudill had six points.

Tracey Lewis came off the bench and worked her way inside for a side high 13 points to lead the Bahamas All-Stars in 19 minutes. Phylicia Kelly had seven points, Albertha Russell six points with five rebounds and Latoya Rolle, Melesha Peterson, Latoya ‘Lil Thing’ Thompson, Linda Pierre and Chryshanda Rahming all added four points.

The Bobcats outrebounded the All-Stars 63-38, but they made 27 turnovers, compared to just 17 by their opponents. The Bobcats, however, had their biggest run of 10 points and they managed to open as much as a 15-point lead to secure the win.

It was the first time that newly appointed assistant women’s coach Donnie Culmer got a chance to work with some of the players who will be vying for a spot on the national team this summer.

And despite the loss, he’s confident that there’s a lot of talent for the coaching staff, led by Yolett McPhee-McCuin, to work with.

“I’ve been trying to have practice for the past week and that’s the first time I had a full team,” he said. “Our league was over a while now, so some of the players are not in playing shape. I noticed that we have a lot of things to work on because a lot of these girls don’t play together. But with the talent that we have away, when we bring them in with what we have here, so we will be okay.”

While the All-Stars will now start to workout together as a team for the summer, the Bobcats have some unfinished business here when they play the Truckers 7pm tonight.

Binford said they will be working on limiting their turnovers and rebounding the ball and if they can do that, they should have another successful game. And with Stockton expected back to cheer them on the sidelines, she’s hoping that they will play inspired basketball again.

“I like the talent here. The players play hard and they are very fast,” Stockton said. “You have some very athletic girls here, so I know we will have another exciting game to watch (tonight).”