Lady Griz to wrap up regular season

Thursday, February 26

Sacramento, Calif.

7:30 PM (MT)

Montana

Sacramento State

The Lady Griz play Weber State at Dahlberg Arena on Saturday, Feb. 21, 2026.

Photo by: Ryan Brennecke / University of Montana

2/24/2026 3:50:00 PM | Women's Basketball

PDF Game Notes

By: Montana Sports Information

The Montana women's basketball team will close out its regular-season schedule over the next week with three games in five days, with the Big Sky Conference Championship in Boise looming in the near future.

The Lady Griz (7-19, 4-11 BSC) first will face a two-game road trip, taking on Sacramento State (12-16, 6-9 BSC) on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. (MT), then heading north to play Portland State (6-21, 2-13 BSC) at 3 p.m. (MT) on Saturday.

The regular-season schedule will conclude on Monday night with a home game against Northern Colorado (20-8, 11-4 BSC), with tip-off at Dahlberg Arena scheduled for 7 p.m.

All 10 Big Sky teams will then head to Boise for the Big Sky Championship. First-round games will be played on Saturday, March 7, quarterfinal games on Sunday and Monday, March 8 and 9, semifinals on Tuesday, March 10, and the championship game on Wednesday, March 11.

Coverage: All three games in the next week will be streamed on ESPN+ and have local radio coverage on KGRZ (1450 AM/92.7 FM) and the Varsity Network, with Ace Sauerwein calling the action.

What's at stake (Montana): The Lady Griz, at 4-11 in league, sit alone in eighth place, two games behind Eastern Washington, Sacramento State and Northern Arizona, all of whom are 6-9.

Montana needs to jump two of those three teams to avoid a first-round game in Boise and get a spot in Monday's quarterfinals, a tall task at first glance but doable given the closing stretch of games for the other three teams.

Northern Arizona (UI, at EWU, at MSU) will be the underdog in its last three games, with Eastern Washington (at UNC, NAU, at UI) playing two of the Big Sky's top three teams on the road.

After facing Montana on Thursday, Sacramento State hosts Montana State on Saturday, then plays at Idaho State on Monday night.

Of course, Montana, on a six-game losing streak, the longest for the Lady Griz since the 2016-17 season, needs to win, starting with Thursday. If Montana loses at Sacramento State – the Hornets won the first meeting in Missoula 64-57 – the Lady Griz are locked into a first-round game in Boise.

Win on Thursday and Montana's hopes of advancing to quarterfinal Monday remain alive.

What's at stake (Sacramento State): Like the Lady Griz, the Hornets are trying to free themselves from the four-team pack and book a Monday game in Boise.

What's at stake (Portland State): The Vikings are currently in last place in the Big Sky and are locked into a first-round game in Boise. Portland State will finish in the bottom half of the Big Sky standings for the seventh consecutive year and potentially in last for the fourth time in five years.

What's at stake (Northern Colorado): The Bears, quietly playing well in the shadow of heavyweights Idaho and Montana State, have put together an excellent season, their first with 20 wins since 2018-19.

Northern Colorado is two back of second-place Montana State with three to play and most likely bound for a Monday quarterfinal game in Boise. The Bears host Eastern Washington on Thursday, then play at Idaho on Saturday before making the trip to Missoula to face the Lady Griz on Monday.

Trending (Montana): The Lady Griz have lost six straight games, only the second time that's happened in the modern era of the program, which began with the 1978-79 season.

The last three of those came at Dahlberg Arena, where the Lady Griz are now 3-9 this season. Montana has had only one previous losing record at home in the modern era. The 2016-17 team went 7-8.

The biggest bugaboo during its losing streak has been on the defensive end. Over the last five games, Montana's opponents are shooting 50.9 percent and averaging 78.8 points.

Montana lost 71-54 at home to Idaho State on Thursday, the Bengals shooting 16 for 24 (.667) in the second half to pull away. On Saturday, Weber State shot 49.1 percent and won 86-79 in overtime, the Wildcats' first win over the Lady Griz in Missoula since 2006.

Trending (Sacramento State): After winning at Montana on Jan. 31, the Hornets went on a four-game losing streak, with losses at both Weber State and Portland State, the bottom two teams in the standings.

Sacramento State snapped that losing streak with a nice 69-60 win at Eastern Washington on Thursday. The Hornets lost 75-60 at Idaho on Saturday, their fifth loss in six games.

Trending (Portland State): The Vikings have lost four straight games and 13 of their last 14 since opening league with a 68-58 home win over Weber State on Jan. 1. Their only other win in 2026 was a 64-62 home victory over Sacramento State.

Portland State may be 6-21 overall but is 5-8 at Viking Pavilion this season.

Trending (Northern Colorado): The Bears, who are 0-3 against Idaho and Montana State this season, have built their third-place standing by taking care of business against the bottom six teams in the standings, against whom they are 10-0 with an averaging winning margin of nearly 15 points per game.

Northern Colorado has won six of its last seven, the loss a 73-69 home setback against Idaho State, giving the Bears a season split with the Bengals.

Montana notes:

* Mack Konig was celebrated on Senior Day on Saturday. She then went out and surpassed 1,300 career points, becoming the fourth player in program history with at least 1,300 career points and 400 career assists. She joins Shannon Cate, Mandy Morales and McKenzie Johnston on that exclusive list.

Konig, who has 1,305 points and 407 assists, moved past Kellie Cole (2011-15), the program's last Big Sky MVP, and into 14th on the program career scoring list. She is 14 assists from moving into the top 10 in that category.

* Freshman Rae Ehrman made her first collegiate start on Thursday against Idaho State. Of her nine games this season with 10 or more points, six have come in the team's last nine games.

* Avery Waddington is the only Lady Griz player to start all 26 games this season after Jocelyn Land came off the bench for the first time on Saturday against Weber State.

Waddington led Montana in scoring against both Idaho State and Weber State last week and has led the Lady Griz in scoring a team-best 11 times this season. She also has led Montana in rebounding 19 times, in assists 10 times, steals 11 times and blocked shots nine times.

* Montana went 12 for 30 from the 3-point line against Weber State, the 11th time this season the Lady Griz have made 11 or more from the arc. The Wildcats went 13 for 29, matching the most three allowed by Montana this season (Utah).

* Montana ranks 10th nationally in threes made per game (9.3), 36th in free throw percentage (.765). … Avery Waddington (.473) leads the Big Sky in shooting percentage in league games. … Montana has not led at the half in its last seven games.

The first meeting: Sacramento State 64, Montana 57 – In a game that was tied at the half, the Hornets outscored the Lady Griz 20-10 in the third quarter and led the rest of the way for only their second-ever win over Montana in Missoula.

After Montana pulled within one, 56-55, with 1:51 to go, former Montana State Bobcat Natalie Picton scored the game's next four points to deliver a victory to the Hornets.

Sacramento State's big three of Picton (17), Benthe Versteeg (17) and Rubi Gray (18) scored all but 12 of the Hornets' points.

Avery Waddington led Montana with 16 points. Draya Wacker scored 10 off the bench.

It was the game that snapped the team's four-game winning streak and started Montana's six-game losing streak.

Series history: Montana leads the all-time series 51-10 and has gone 20-7 against the Hornets in Sacramento. The Lady Griz had won four straight, seven of eight and 14 of 16 against Sacramento State prior to the Hornets' victory in Missoula last month.

The first meeting: Montana 69, Portland State 63 – Avery Waddington scored 31 points on 13-of-20 shooting and added 10 rebounds as the Lady Griz won their fourth straight game.

Montana put up a 19-point first quarter on 9-of-14 shooting, then went 2 of 16 in the second to trail 25-23 at the half.

The game swung back and forth in the second half until Waddington scored at the rim with 42 seconds left to break the game's final tie.

Sophie Buzzard had an open three with 18 seconds left that would have given the Vikings a 66-65 lead. It missed and Draya Wacker went 4 for 4 from the free throw line over the final 16 seconds for the game's final points.

Kyleigh Brown led Portland State with 20 points.

Series history: Montana is 58-23 all-time against Portland State and has a 22-15 record against the Vikings in Portland. The Lady Griz have won five straight in the series, nine of the last 10.

The first meeting: Northern Colorado 77, Montana 58 – The Lady Griz hit eight 3-pointers in the first half and held a 39-37 lead at the break in Greeley when the teams met on Jan. 3, but the second half was all Bears.

UNC outscored Montana 40-19 over the final 20 minutes, going 6 for 14 from the 3-point line. The Lady Griz shot 6 for 24 in the second half, 1 for 12 from the 3-point line.

Heather Baymon came off the bench to score 29 points for Northern Colorado, tied for the most scored by an opposing player this season. She went 10 for 18 overall, 7 for 13 from the 3-point line.

Mack Konig led Montana with 19 points.

Series history: Montana leads the all-time series 24-18 and has gone 13-6 at home against the Bears. The teams have split their regular-season series four of the past five seasons.

Opponent notes: Sacramento State point guard Benthe Versteeg, second-team all-league as a sophomore, first team as a junior, was voted the Big Sky Preseason MVP. … The Hornets rank last in the Big Sky in scoring (62.9/g). … Versteeg leads the Big Sky in assists (4.5/g). … Portland State has the Big Sky's lowest NET ranking (315). … The Vikings are allowing 75.5 points per game, last in the Big Sky. … Kyleigh Brown (17.6/g) ranks third in the Big Sky in scoring behind Northern Arizona's Naomi White (21.3) and Montana State's Taylee Chirrick (17.9/g). … Brown leads the Big Sky in free throw percentage. She is 114 for 129 (.884) for the season. … Northern Colorado is allowing 59.8 points per game, second in the Big Sky behind Idaho State (59.7). … The Bears match that with the league's second-best shooting percentage (.422). … Northern Colorado has four players who average between 10.4 and 13.0 points and does not have anyone who ranks in the top 14 in the Big Sky, the Bears' 20 wins coming more through balance than a one-player standout. … Gabi Fields ranks fourth in the Big Sky in assists (3.9/g) and leads the league in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.6).

Around the Big Sky Conference:

* Idaho (14-1 BSC) is rolling on a 12-game winning streak and takes a one-game lead over Montana State into the final stretch of games. The Vandals' last regular-season Big Sky championship came in 2018-19.

* Idaho closes with a game at Northern Arizona on Thursday, then home games against Northern Colorado and Eastern Washington on Saturday and Monday.

* Montana State (13-2) is a game back and closes with the Portland State-Sacramento State road trip, then a home game against Northern Arizona on Monday night.

* Northern Colorado (11-4) and Idaho State (11-5) are five wins clear of the three teams tied for fifth.

* In the Big Sky preseason poll, Idaho was picked third, Montana State first, Northern Colorado seventh and Idaho State fourth.

* Montana State (64) has the Big Sky's top NET ranking. Idaho (106), Idaho State (113) and Northern Colorado (142) also are in the top 150. All the other teams are 227 or lower.

* Thursday schedule: UM at SAC, MSU at PSU, EWU at UNC, UI at NAU

* Saturday schedule: UM at PSU, MSU at SAC, ISU at WSU, NAU at EWU, UNC at UI

* Monday schedule: UNC at UM, NAU at MSU, SAC at ISU, PSU at WSU, EWU at UI

Upcoming: The Big Sky Conference Championship in Boise.