FARMINGTON, Utah (Nov. 19, 2025) – Two weeks of the basketball season have come and gone. Teams around the league look to find momentum as non-conference action heats up.
Big Sky Women's Basketball Weekly Notes (Week 3)
Hassmann Named Player of the Week
Hope had one of the best games of her career in Idaho’s 76-72 win against Southern Utah over the weekend. With 21 points, 5 assists, 4 rebounds, and a flawless 9-9 from the free-throw line, Hassmann led the Vandals to another big win as Idaho beat the previously undefeated Southern Utah Thunderbirds.
The Vandals complete the week unbeaten and move to 3-1 on the season.
The honor is the Vandal’s second of the season.
Bobcats Stay Perfect Through Two Weeks
Reigning Big Sky Champions Montana State is the only squad in the conference that remains perfect through the first two weeks.
The Bobcats are most recently coming off of a statement win over UNLV, one of the Mountain West’s best.
Montana State was led by the duo of Addison Harris and Taylee Chirrick who combined for 42 points, 16 rebounds and 8 steals.
The Bobcats have also collected wins over Carroll College, Portland and Minot State. They look to continue their winning ways at Troy and Colorado in the coming week.
Leading the Lumberjacks, and the Big Sky
Naomi White has been a leathal force for the Lumberjack offense in her first few games in Flagstaff.
Through four games, White leads both the Lumberjacks and the Big Sky in scoring averaging 23 points per game.
She has recroded four consecutive 20+ point games, with her season high being 26, coming in the second game of the season against Utah Tech.
This is White’s first season of collegiate action after redshirting her freshman year at Grand Canyon as a season ago.
Montana State Sweeps Preseason Polls
After a 30-win campaign a season ago, the Bobcats begin their title defense as preseason favorites of both the Coaches' Poll and Media Poll leading up to the 2025-26 Women's Basketball season, the conference office announced.
The Bobcats received five first-place votes in the coaches’ poll and 11 in the media poll compared to Montana three first-place votes in the coaches' poll and seven in the media poll. Idaho and Idaho State gathered the final two first place votes in the coaches poll.
Montana State finished its last campaign with a 30-4 overall record, the first Big Sky team to reach the 30-win mark, and a 17-1 mark in Big Sky action. The Bobcats swept the Big Sky titles, earning their eight regular season crown and its fourth tournament title. The season came to a close in Columbus where the Bobcats faced the Buckeyes of Ohio State in the first round of the NCAA tournament.
2025-26 Big Sky Women’s Basketball Preseason Coaches’ Poll
1: Montana State (5) – 74
2: Montana (3) – 72
3: Idaho (1) – 65
4: Idaho State (1) – 57
5: Sacramento State – 50
6: Eastern Washington – 38
7: Northern Colorado – 36
8: Weber State – 28
T9: Northern Arizona – 15
T9: Portland State – 15
() – Denotes First-Place Votes
2025-26 Big Sky Women’s Basketball Preseason Media Poll
1: Montana State (11) – 238
2: Montana (7) – 224
3: Idaho (7) – 220
4: Sacramento State (2) – 177
5: Idaho State – 161
6: Eastern Washington – 123
7: Weber State – 120
8: Northern Arizona – 102
9: Northern Colorado – 86
10: Portland State – 34
() – Denotes First-Place Votes
Versteeg Headlines Preseason All-Conference Team
The 2025-26 Big Sky Women's Basketball Preseason Team has been revealed, the conference office announced. Sacramento State's Benthe Versteeg highlights the team, earning Preseason MVP honors.
Versteeg represents one of five schools through the six-member Preseason All-Conference Team.
Versteeg enters her redshirt senior season as one of the league's most impactful returners, collecting All-Big Sky First team honors a season ago. In her 2024-25 campaign, she led the conference in assists with 208, nearly 40 more than anyone else in the conference. The Hornet also ranked Top-10 in the conference in scoring (10th), total points (8th), field goals made (7th), assist-to-turnover ratio (7th), steals (8th) and minutes (2nd). Her defensive efforts have earned her a spot on the Big Sky All-Defensive team twice in as many years.
The Lady Griz of Montana are the only school represented on the Preseason All-Conference team twice in Mack Konig and Avery Waddington. The Lady Griz duo led the squad a season ago as the two highest-point scorers on the team, both averaging 10+ points per game. Montana enters the first full season of the Nate Harris era, who led the team to a championship appearance in Boise to close out the 2024-25 season.
2025-26 Big Sky Women’s Basketball Preseason All-Conference Team
Benthe Versteeg, Sacramento State (Preseason Most Valuable Player)
Mack Konig, Montana
Taylee Chirrick, Montana State
Kourtney Grossman, Eastern Washington
Avery Waddington, Montana
Hope Hassmann, Idaho
Starch Madness
The 2026 Big Sky Basketball Championships in Boise, Idaho will take place from March 7-11 inside Idaho Central Arena. Visit
StarchMadness.com for more details.
2025 Big Sky Women's Basketball Schedule (Week 3)
Wednesday, Nov. 19
Pepperdine at Northern Arizona // 6:00 p.m. MT (ESPN+)
BYU at Montana // 7:00 p.m. MT (ESPN+)
Thursday, Nov. 20
Weber State at Utah Valley // 6:00 p.m. MT (ESPN+)
Friday, Nov. 21
Northern Colorado vs Campbell // 2:00 p.m. MT
Idaho State at Portland // 5:30 p.m. MT (ESPN+)
Northern Arizona at Arizona // 6:00 p.m. MT (ESPN+)
Cal State Fullerton at Sacramento State // 7:30 p.m. MT (ESPN+)
UC Riverside at Idaho // 8:30 p.m. MT (ESPN+)
Saturday, Nov. 22
Northern Colorado vs DePaul/Grambling State // TBA
Weber State at BYU // 2:00 p.m. MT (ESPN+)
Portland State at Utah Tech // 8:00 p.m. MT (ESPN+)
Sunday, Nov. 23
CSUN at Idaho // 2:00 p.m. MT (ESPN+)
Eastern Washington at Gonzaga // 3:00 p.m. MT (ESPN+)
Idaho State at LMU // 4:00 p.m. MT (ESPN+)
Monday, Nov. 24
Montana State at Troy // 5:00 p.m. MT (ESPN+)
UC Davis at Sacramento State // 7:30 p.m. MT (ESPN+)
Tuesday, Nov. 25
Northern Colorado at Arizona // 6:00 p.m. MT (ESPN+)
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