Lady Griz finalize 2025-26 schedule

Nate Harris isn't here to mess around, even in his first season as head coach of the Montana women's basketball team, when most coaches in his shoes would be seeking a softer entry. His anyone-anywhere-anytime attitude comes shining through in his team's 2025-26 schedule, which was finalized this week.

After opening the season with a home game against Seattle Pacific on Tuesday, Nov. 4, the Lady Griz will play four of their next five against teams that made last year's NCAA tournament.

The non-conference portion of the schedule features two road games against Big Ten opponents, three against teams from the Big 12, and that does not include South Dakota State, which went 30-4 last year or the Abilene Christian Christmas Classic and two opponents that combined for 42 wins last season.

It's going to be a handful, yet it was put together by design and with an eye on the back half of the season, when Montana goes through the Big Sky Conference and heads back to Boise in March to try to finish off what the Lady Griz almost claimed last season.

"Our goal for our non-conference is, are we better in January than we were when we started in November? This is a schedule that when we step foot back on the floor in early January, we should be significantly better," he said.

"We'll be battle-tested and ready for a year in the Big Sky, which for us is what really matters. We've got to prepare ourselves for those two trips around the league, then that week in Boise. We feel this is a schedule that gives us a chance to play really good basketball."

The Lady Griz, who went 14-18 in a tumultuous 2024-25 season, one that ended with Montana one rebound away, one tipped ball, from a title in Boise, will open the season with their only non-Division I opponent, hosting Seattle Pacific on Nov. 4.

Then it's a road trip to Oregon and Washington, a neutral-site match-up against South Dakota State in Rapid City, followed by home games against BYU and Utah.

Oregon and Washington both made the NCAA tournament last season. The Lady Griz have not faced the Ducks since 2009. Montana handed the Huskies an 82-68 loss at Dahlberg Arena last November.

"That road trip is a chance for our kids to play against regional, high-level opponents," said Harris. "We'll test ourselves early. It's an easy trip for us to make, so it makes a lot of sense."

Then it will be off to Rapid City for a neutral-site match-up against South Dakota State, which has played in 13 NCAA tournaments since 2008-09 and won the WNIT in 2021-22.

"That game is geared specifically toward the conference tournament, when you have to beat a really good team at a neutral site to win a championship," said Harris. "What better way to get ready for that than to go try to do it?"

Montana will close November with home games against BYU and Utah of the Big 12. "Those games are a nod to our fans. We want to bring really good teams in because it's fun for our fans, fun for the community," said Harris.

The Utah game will serve as a homecoming for Jordan (Sullivan) MacIntyre and Jace Henderson, former Lady Griz players and assistant coaches who are now on the staff of Gavin Petersen, who was an assistant coach at both Idaho State and Idaho during his coaching career.

"It's a tremendous staff with a ton of Lady Griz ties with Jordan and Jace," said Harris, who was an assistant with MacIntyre at Montana for the 2021-22 season. "It will be great to get them back in the building."

Montana will get just one game at home in the month of December, with St. Thomas traveling to Missoula as part of the Big Sky Conference-Summit League Challenge. The Lady Griz will play at North Dakota for their Challenge road game.

Between the end of finals week and the start of a short Christmas break, Montana will head to Texas for a three-game road trip. The Lady Griz will play at Houston, then face Abilene Christian and Tarleton State, teams that won 22 and 20 games a season ago, at the former's Christmas Classic.

Houston went just 5-25 last season but should soon be on the rise under first-year coach Matthew Mitchell, a three-time SEC Coach of the Year at Kentucky, where he coached from 2007 to 2020 and took the Wildcats to nine NCAA tournaments.

He brought his 2017-18 Kentucky team to Missoula for a game against the Lady Griz when the Wildcats were on their way to face Washington State. He'll bring his second Cougar team to Montana in 2026-27.

"That trip will challenge us with another Big 12 team, then a tournament we're really excited about playing," said Harris. "After punching up for the better part of our schedule, we'll face two very comparable teams from the WAC.

"Growing up, playing against really good teams is what I enjoyed and anywhere I've coached, playing really good teams and trying to play really well has been exciting. I think our team enjoys the opportunities to compete against the very best."

Montana will open its Big Sky schedule with a game at Northern Arizona on Jan. 1, a game that will show just how much the league has changed since March.

NAU coach Loree Payne departed for Santa Clara shortly after the season, and the team's two first-team All-Big Sky selections from last year, Sophie Glancey and Taylor Feldman, are now playing at Santa Clara and Purdue.

"We don't have any idea what things are going to look like in the Big Sky," said Harris. "That's why we wanted to schedule aggressively.

"Our job until Jan. 1 is, how much better can we be? Come Jan. 1, those are the games that will determine if we're able to accomplish our goals. Everything we're working toward is in that second-semester conference season.

The Big Sky Conference Championship will open in Boise on Saturday, March 7.

2025-26 Montana Women's Basketball Schedule
Tuesday, Nov. 4                        Seattle Pacific
Saturday, Nov. 8                       at Oregon
Monday, Nov. 10                      at Washington
Saturday, Nov. 15                     vs. South Dakota State (Rapid City, S.D.)
Wednesday, Nov. 19               BYU
Saturday, Nov. 29                     Utah
Wednesday, Dec. 3                  at North Dakota
Saturday, Dec. 6                        St. Thomas
Tuesday, Dec. 16                       at Houston
Friday, Dec. 19                           at Abilene Christian
Saturday, Dec. 20                     vs. Tarleton State (Abilene, Texas)
Thursday, Jan. 1                        at Northern Arizona
Saturday, Jan. 3                         at Northern Colorado
Thursday, Jan. 8                        Idaho
Saturday, Jan. 10                       Eastern Washington
Saturday, Jan. 17                       at Montana State
Monday, Jan. 19                        Northern Arizona
Thursday, Jan. 22                      at Weber State
Saturday, Jan. 24                       at Idaho State
Thursday, Jan. 29                      Portland State
Saturday, Jan. 31                       Sacramento State
Thursday, Feb. 5                       at Eastern Washington
Saturday, Feb. 7                        at Idaho
Saturday, Feb. 14                      Montana State
Thursday, Feb. 19                     Idaho State
Saturday, Feb. 21                      Weber State
Thursday, Feb. 26                     at Sacramento State
Saturday, Feb. 28                      at Portland State
Monday, March 2                     Northern Colorado

Saturday, March 7                    Big Sky Conference First Round (Boise, Idaho)
Sunday, March 8                       Big Sky Conference Quarterfinals (Boise, Idaho)
Monday, March 9                     Big Sky Conference Quarterfinals (Boise, Idaho)
Tuesday, March 10                   Big Sky Conference Semifinals (Boise, Idaho)
Wednesday, March 11           Big Sky Conference Championship (Boise, Idaho)

University of Montana Athletics

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