POCATELLO, Idaho – Seton Sobolewski has been named the 2020-21 Big Sky Conference Co-Women's Basketball Coach of the year. Tricia Binford from Montana State was named the other co-coach.
This is the second-time Sobolewski has won the award, the first being in 2011-12.
In the 2020-21 season, Sobolewski has led the Bengals to a 19-3 regular season record and a 15-2 conference record.
The Bengals picked up two big non-conference wins early in the season. In November, Sobolewski coached the Bengals to an 85-61 win over Mountain West member Utah State. The Bengals then followed that up with a 65-50 win at BIG 12 Kansas State University, another power 5 win added to the list that Sobolewski grown over the years.
Sobolewski followed up the Kansas State win by going on a 13-0 winning streak with the Bengals. The team faced challenges week in and week out but were able to come together and pull out wins. Those 13 games led up to the Bengals series with Idaho, which saw the Bengals win a strong comeback and suffer a hard loss.
After the Bengals first loss in more than two months, Sobolewski helped the team rebound and pick up a 69-59 win over the No. 2 Montana State Bobcats, holding them to 12 points below their season average.
The Bengals then headed to Missoula for a critical series against the Montana Lady Griz. Sobolewski, historically has had a hard time against Montana specifically in Dahlberg Arena in Missoula. The Bengals entered the game having only won there three times before in the history of the program.
Not daunted by this, Sobolewski coached the Bengals to a series sweep of the Lady Griz, including a 79-49 win, the largest margin of defeat from a Big Sky opponent in the history of Montana's program.
After a COVID scare the week of the final series with Eastern Washington forcing one of the games to be canceled, Sobolewski prepared his team for their final matchup against Eastern Washington for a chance to claim the outright Big Sky Regular Season Championship.
Staring that adversity in the face, Sobolewski coached the Bengals to an 86-51 blowout victory and championship celebration.
Throughout it all, Sobolewski stressed this season that individual accomplishments pale in comparison to the accomplishments of the team. That mentality is a reason why he is receiving the Coach of the Year Award.
The Bengals continue their run Tuesday, Mar. 8 as they play either #9 Eastern Washington or #8 Portland State in the quarterfinals of the Big Sky Tournament.
