FARMINGTON, Utah (Nov. 26, 2025) – Holiday hoops is upon us as teams across the league travel the country to compete in tournaments over the Thanksgiving weekend.
Big Sky Women's Basketball Weekly Notes (Week 4)
Chirrick Named Player of the Week
Last Tuesday night, Chirrick stuffed the stat sheet as the Bobcats knocked off four-time Mountain West regular season champion UNLV in Worthington Arena. The product of Roberts, Mont., notched 16 points, pulled down 10 rebounds, and added six steals and three assists.
In MSU’s loss at Troy (ranked No. 10 in the mid major poll), she recorded 21 points, 9 rebounds, six steals, and four assists. For the two games, Chirrick averaged a well-rounded 18.5 points, 9.5 rebounds, 6.0 steals, and 3.5 assists per game.
She is currently ranked 8th in the nation, averaging 4.25 steals per game.
Vandals Lead Standings Through Two Weeks
The Idaho Vandals find themselves at the top of the Big Sky Women’s Basketball season through the first three weeks of the hoops season.
The Vandals are currently on a four-game winning streak, most recently coming off of a 89-56 win against CSUN.
Idaho looks to keep their winning ways going over the holiday weekend as the squad takes on Colgate and Wichita State in California.
Idaho’s lone loss of the season has come against UC Davis, the second game of the season.
Leading the Lumberjacks, and the Big Sky
Naomi White has been a lethal 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 recorded 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 4)
Wednesday, Nov. 26
Northern Arizona vs Northern Iowa // 2:00 p.m. MT (Youtube)
Weber State at Utah // 7:00 p.m. MT (ESPN+)
Friday, Nov. 28
Northern Arizona vs Creighton // 12:00 p.m. MT (Youtube)
Chattanooga vs Sacramento State // 3:00 p.m. MT
Idaho vs Colgate // 5:30 p.m. MT
Eastern Washington vs Nevada // 6:00 p.m. MT (ESPN+)
San Jose State at Portland State // 6:00 p.m. MT (ESPN+)
Chadron State at Northern Colorado // 6:00 p.m. MT (ESPN+)
Saturday, Nov. 29
Sacramento State vs Cal Baptist/UCSB // 1:00 p.m. MT
Utah at Montana // 2:00 p.m. MT (ESPN+)
Idaho vs Wichita State // 3:00 p.m. MT
Sunday, Nov. 30
Montana State at Colorado // 1:00 p.m. MT (ESPN+)
UC San Diego at Portland State // 3:00 p.m. MT (ESPN+)
Eastern Washington at Portland // 4:00 p.m. MT (ESPN+)
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