2025–26 Montana State Bobcats women's basketball team

2025–26 Montana State Bobcats women's basketball
2025–26 Montana State Bobcats women's basketball
WNIT
Conference	Big Sky Conference
Record	25–7 (16–2 Big Sky)
Head coach	Tricia Binford (21st season);
Assistant coaches	Sunny Smallwood; Ryan Johnson; Devin Perez;
Home arena	Worthington Arena

2025–26 Big Sky women's basketball standings
	Conf.				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
Idaho †	17	–	1	.944	29	–	6	.829
Montana State	16	–	2	.889	25	–	7	.781
Northern Colorado	13	–	5	.722	23	–	10	.697
Idaho State	12	–	6	.667	19	–	11	.633
Sacramento State	8	–	10	.444	15	–	18	.455
Eastern Washington	7	–	11	.389	15	–	18	.455
Northern Arizona	6	–	12	.333	10	–	22	.313
Montana	5	–	13	.278	9	–	22	.290
Weber State	4	–	14	.222	11	–	22	.333
Portland State	2	–	16	.111	6	–	25	.194

† 2026 Big Sky tournament winner As of March 20, 2026

The 2025–26 Montana State Bobcats women's basketball team represents Montana State University during the 2025–26 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Bobcats, led by 21st-year head coach Tricia Binford, play their home games at Worthington Arena in Bozeman, Montana, as members of the Big Sky Conference.

Previous season

The Bobcats finished the 2024–25 season 30–4, 17–1 in Big Sky play, to finish as Big Sky regular season champions.^[1] They defeated Northern Colorado,^[2] Idaho State,^[3] and Montana to win the Big Sky tournament championship, sending the Bobcats to their first NCAA tournament appearance since 2022.^[4] In the tournament, they would receive the No. 13 seed in the Birmingham Regional 3,^[5] where they would be defeated by No. 4 seed Ohio State in the First Round.^[6]

Preseason

On October 22, 2025, the Big Sky Conference released their preseason coaches and media poll. Montana State was picked to finish atop the conference in both the coaches poll, with five first-place votes, and the media poll, with eleven first-place votes.^[7]

Preseason rankings

Big Sky Preseason Coaches' Poll
Place	Team	Votes
1	Montana State	74 (5)
2	Montana	72 (3)
3	Idaho	65 (1)
4	Idaho State	57 (1)
5	Sacramento State	50
6	Eastern Washington	38
7	Northern Colorado	36
8	Weber State	28
T-9	Northern Arizona	15
T-9	Portland State	15
(#) first-place votes

Source:^[7]

Big Sky Preseason Media Poll
Place	Team	Votes
1	Montana State	238 (11)
2	Montana	224 (7)
3	Idaho	220 (7)
4	Sacramento State	177 (2)
5	Idaho State	161
6	Eastern Washington	123
7	Weber State	120
8	Northern Arizona	102
9	Northern Colorado	86
10	Portland State	34
(#) first-place votes

Source:^[7]

Preseason All-Big Sky Team

Preseason All-Big Sky Team
Player	Year	Position
Taylee Chirrick	Sophomore	Guard

Source:^[8]

Roster

2025–26 Montana State Bobcats women's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Year	Previous school	Hometown
G	2	Courtney Smith	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	RS Fr	Toledo	London, Ontario
F	5	Ella Johnson	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	Jr	Elk River High School	Elk River, Minnesota
G	9	Heidi Smith	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	RS Fr	Toledo	London, Ontario
G	12	Jamison Philip	5 ft 7 in (1.7 m)	Fr	Ellensburg High School	Ellensburg, Washington
G	13	Grace Hintz	5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)	Fr	Lynden Christian Schools	Lynden, Washington
G	15	Isobel Bunyan	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	Jr	Cardiff Met Archers	Tonyrefail, Wales
G	20	Brooke Fatupaito	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	RS Jr	New Mexico	Billings, Montana
G	21	Brianne Bailey	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)	Fr	South Fremont High School	St. Anthony, Idaho
F	23	Teagan Erickson	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	So	Saco High School	Saco, Montana
G	24	Kadynce Couture	5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)	Fr	Big Sky High School	Missoula, Montana
G	30	Dylan Philip	5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)	RS Jr	Ellensburg High School	Ellensburg, Washington
F	33	Addison Harris	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	So	Camas High School	Camas, Washington
G	44	Taylee Chirrick	5 ft 11 in (1.8 m)	So	Roberts High School	Roberts, Montana
F		Drea Brumfield	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	RS Jr	Pepperdine	Chehalis, Washington

Head coach

Tricia Binford (Boise State)

Assistant coach(es)

Sunny Smallwood (Boise State)
Ryan Johnson (DePauw)
Devin Perez (Ottawa)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

Roster
Last update: January 27, 2026

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Opponent^#	Result	Record	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Site (attendance) city, state
Non-conference regular season
November 4, 2025* 7:00 pm, ESPN+	Carroll	W 93–41	1–0	27 – Harris	9 – Couture	4 – Bailey	Worthington Arena (1,717) Bozeman, MT
November 7, 2025* 7:00 pm, ESPN+	at Portland	W 86–72	2–0	23 – Chirrick	9 – Fatupaito	7 – Chirrick	Chiles Center (851) Portland, OR
November 10, 2025* 11:00 am, ESPN+	Minot State	W 73–37	3–0	19 – Chirrick	8 – Johnson	5 – J. Philip	Worthington Arena (4,877) Bozeman, MT
November 18, 2025* 7:00 pm, ESPN+	UNLV	W 94–81	4–0	26 – Harris	10 – Tied	9 – J. Philip	Worthington Arena (1,777) Bozeman, MT
November 24, 2025* 5:00 pm, ESPN+	at Troy	L 60−74	4−1	21 – Chirrick	9 – Chirrick	4 – Chirrick	Trojan Arena (1,152) Troy, AL
November 30, 2025* 1:00 pm, ESPN+	at Colorado	W 71−70	5−1	21 – Chirrick	6 – Tied	3 – Chirrick	CU Events Center (2,206) Boulder, CO
December 3, 2025* 6:00 pm, CBSSN	at North Dakota State Big Sky/Summit League Challenge	L 65–90	5–2	22 – Bunyan	6 – Chirrick	5 – Tied	Scheels Center (1,014) Fargo, ND
December 6, 2025* 6:00 pm, ESPN+	North Dakota Big Sky/Summit League Challenge	W 99–57	6–2	27 – Erickson	10 – Chirrick	10 – Chirrick	Worthington Arena (1,877) Bozeman, MT
December 14, 2025* 1:00 pm, B1G+	at Oregon	L 44–69	6–3	14 – J. Philip	6 – Chirrick	2 – Tied	Matthew Knight Arena (4,169) Eugene, OR
December 19, 2025* 8:00 pm, YouTube	vs. Oregon State Maui Classic	L 51–53	6–4	14 – J. Philip	8 – Chirrick	3 – Tied	Seabury Hall Makawao, HI
December 20, 2025* 6:30 pm, YouTube	vs. Hawai'i Maui Classic	W 72–56	7–4	26 – Chirrick	8 – Chirrick	3 – J. Philip	Seabury Hall Makawao, HI
Big Sky regular season
January 1, 2026 6:00 pm, ESPN+	at Northern Colorado	W 86−79	8−4 (1–0)	21 – Bunyan	7 – Chirrick	5 – J. Philip	Bank of Colorado Arena (685) Greeley, CO
January 3, 2026 2:00 pm, ESPN+	at Northern Arizona	W 82–65	9–4 (2–0)	27 – Chirrick	10 – Johnson	5 – Bailey	Findlay Toyota Court (246) Flagstaff, AZ
January 8, 2026 7:00 pm, ESPN+	Eastern Washington	W 72–70	10–4 (3–0)	24 – Chirrick	8 – Chirrick	6 – Chirrick	Worthington Arena (1,673) Bozeman, MT
January 10, 2026 2:00 pm, ESPN+	Idaho	W 99–66	11–4 (4–0)	23 – Chirrick	7 – Chirrick	6 – J. Philip	Worthington Arena (2,145) Bozeman, MT
January 17, 2026 2:00 pm, The Spot-MTN/ESPN+	Montana	W 82–44	12–4 (5–0)	23 – J. Philip	8 – Johnson	3 – Tied	Worthington Arena (4,173) Bozeman, MT
January 19, 2026 7:00 pm, ESPN+	Northern Colorado	W 71–57	13–4 (6–0)	23 – Harris	6 – Johnson	4 – Tied	Worthington Arena (1,671) Bozeman, MT
January 22, 2026 7:00 pm, ESPN+	at Idaho State	L 60–79	13–5 (6–1)	18 – Harris	8 – Chirrick	5 – Chirrick	Reed Gym (1,011) Pocatello, ID
January 24, 2026 2:00 pm, ESPN+	at Weber State	W 92–72	14–5 (7–1)	24 – Chirrick	7 – Chirrick	5 – Chirrick	Dee Events Center (589) Ogden, UT
January 29, 2026 7:00 pm, ESPN+	Sacramento State						Worthington Arena Bozeman, MT
January 31, 2026 2:00 pm, ESPN+	Portland State						Worthington Arena Bozeman, MT
February 5, 2026 7:00 pm, ESPN+	at Idaho						ICCU Arena Moscow, ID
February 7, 2026 3:00 pm, ESPN+	at Eastern Washington						Reese Court Cheney, WA
February 14, 2026 2:00 pm, ESPN+	at Montana						Dahlberg Arena Missoula, MT
February 19, 2026 7:00 pm, ESPN+	Weber State						Worthington Arena Bozeman, MT
February 21, 2026 2:00 pm, ESPN+	Idaho State						Worthington Arena Bozeman, MT
February 26, 2026 7:00 pm, ESPN+	at Portland State						Viking Pavilion Portland, OR
February 28, 2026 2:00 pm, ESPN+	at Sacramento State						Hornet Pavilion Sacramento, CA
March 2, 2026 7:00 pm, ESPN+	Northern Arizona						Worthington Arena Bozeman, MT
Big Sky tournament
March 7–11, 2026	vs.						Idaho Central Arena Boise, ID
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Mountain.

Sources:^[9]^[10]

References

^ "2024–25 Women's Basketball Standings". Big Sky Conference. Retrieved January 27, 2026.
^ "Montana State women hammer Northern Colorado, cruise into Big Sky semifinals". MontanaSports.com. Retrieved January 27, 2026.
^ "Stifling defense leads MSU women's basketball to Big Sky finals over Idaho State". NBC Montana. Retrieved January 27, 2026.
^ "Montana Lady Griz vs. Montana State Bobcats - Final Score - March 12, 2025". FOX Sports. Retrieved January 27, 2026.
^ "2025 Division I Women's Basketball Official Bracket". NCAA.com. Retrieved January 27, 2026.
^ "Ohio State basketball tops Montana State in March Madness, advances to NCAA second round". The Columbus Dispatch. Retrieved January 27, 2026.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Montana State Sweeps Preseason Women's Basketball Polls". Big Sky Conference. Retrieved January 27, 2026.
^ "2025-26 Big Sky Women's Basketball Preseason Team Announced, Versteeg Named Preseason MVP". Big Sky Conference. Retrieved January 27, 2026.
^ "2025–26 Women's Basketball Schedule". Montana State University Athletics. Retrieved January 27, 2026.
^ "Montana State Bobcats 2025–26 Regular Season NCAAW Schedule". ESPN. Retrieved January 27, 2026.

[1] "2024–25 Women's Basketball Standings". Big Sky Conference. Retrieved January 27, 2026.

[2] "Montana State women hammer Northern Colorado, cruise into Big Sky semifinals". MontanaSports.com. Retrieved January 27, 2026.

[3] "Stifling defense leads MSU women's basketball to Big Sky finals over Idaho State". NBC Montana. Retrieved January 27, 2026.

[4] "Montana Lady Griz vs. Montana State Bobcats - Final Score - March 12, 2025". FOX Sports. Retrieved January 27, 2026.

[5] "2025 Division I Women's Basketball Official Bracket". NCAA.com. Retrieved January 27, 2026.

[6] "Ohio State basketball tops Montana State in March Madness, advances to NCAA second round". The Columbus Dispatch. Retrieved January 27, 2026.

[poll-7] "Montana State Sweeps Preseason Women's Basketball Polls". Big Sky Conference. Retrieved January 27, 2026.

[8] "2025-26 Big Sky Women's Basketball Preseason Team Announced, Versteeg Named Preseason MVP". Big Sky Conference. Retrieved January 27, 2026.

[9] "2025–26 Women's Basketball Schedule". Montana State University Athletics. Retrieved January 27, 2026.

[10] "Montana State Bobcats 2025–26 Regular Season NCAAW Schedule". ESPN. Retrieved January 27, 2026.

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Montana State Bobcats women's basketball
Venues	Brick Breeden Fieldhouse (1976–present)
People	Head coaches
Seasons	List of seasons 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25 2025–26