Montana State University and the University of Montana will meet for the 19th time in post-season play on Sunday, as both teams compete in the second round of the Big Sky Conference Women’s Basketball Tournament. The game is scheduled for 2:30 pm in Boise, Idaho.
Montana State enters the matchup after a week-long break, which head coach Tricia Binford described as beneficial. “It’s quite nice, to be honest,” Binford said. “When you get into a rhythm, a routine of a Thursday and a Saturday, there’s so much scout prep that you’re focusing on. So there’s some things that we can get cleaned up, we can get back to our habits and polish those up, focusing on who we’re going to be. It’s a good opportunity to focus on improving ourselves and working on a couple of things we might see.”
The Bobcats are coming off last year’s narrow victory over their rivals in the Big Sky Championship game. Meanwhile, Montana advanced to this round by defeating Northern Arizona despite dealing with several player absences due to illness.
On Friday, MSU sophomore guard Taylee Chirrick was named both Most Valuable Player and Defensive Player of the Year by the conference. Alongside All-Big Sky forward Addison Harrison and freshman point guard, Chirrick plays a key role for Montana State. Binford highlighted her team’s backcourt contributions: “Our guard play has set the pace, set the tone, both offensively and defensively,” she said. “That’s extremely important. They establish our pace, how aggressive we’re going to be, how hard we’re going to push the ball. To have multiple guards to rotate, to keep that pace so we don’t lose a beat, is really important.”
Montana has faced adversity during its season; star guard Mack Konig missed nearly a month because of injury but leads her team with an average of 14.3 points per game. Star forward Avery Waddington averages 13.4 points but was among several players absent from Saturday’s first-round win due to illness.
Binford stressed continued improvement and teamwork as priorities for her squad moving forward: “It’s going to take everybody,” she said. “Like every Big Sky Tournament, when you think of the teams that have advanced, it’s sometimes a surprise which kid it’s been (that has stepped up) but it’s been consistent across the board that our defense is where it starts and we play off that. But it takes (fresh) legs to do that, so that’s why you need everybody.”
With both university spirit squads and fans traveling for the tournament in Boise this year, Binford noted an increased sense of excitement surrounding post-season play: “This is what you work for since last spring and during the summer. You’ve got certain things that are circled on your calendar and everybody’s very excited about Boise. One of the things that feels a little bit different (than the regular season) is that our men’s team is there, our spirit squad is there, the Spirit of the West band, our fans all travel; it’s become a great event that way.”
