Waddington voted second-team All-Big Sky

Montana sophomore Avery Waddington was named second-team All-Big Sky Conference on Friday, as the league's individual awards and all-conference teams were announced on the eve of the start of the Big Sky Championship in Boise.

Waddington, who was voted to the Preseason All-Big Sky team in October, becomes Montana's first second-year sophomore to be voted all-league since Katie Baker in 2010-11.

Waddington scored 319 points (10.0/g) last season, the second-most in program history for a true freshman.

She is averaging 13.4 points this season on her usual high-efficiency shooting (.458/.355/.743) and is on the verge of doing something no player in program history has done: Lead the team in points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks.

"Avery definitely took the sophomore jump," said coach Nate Harris. "Her usage and efficiency went through the roof, and we asked her to do so many different things all over the floor. There wasn't an area that she didn't impact the game this year. Her production was necessary to our success."

Waddington opened the season with 20 points and eight rebounds in Montana's season-opening win and never stopped producing. She had five games of 20 or more points, including a career-high 31 in a home win over Portland State.

She has had nine games with four or more assists since mid-January, which coincides with the team's temporary loss of senior point guard Mack Konig, an injury that put the ball even more in Waddington's hands. She closed the season with double-figure scoring in 10 of the team's final 12 games.

Waddington led Montana (8-21, 5-13 BSC) in rebounding in 19 of 29 games this season.

"Her biggest area of growth was in her ability to create for others," said Harris. "She has played a ton of point guard this season, especially when Mack was out, and we needed her to not only score but create looks for others. She embraced that new role and was tremendous at it.

"She welcomed the pressure and attention that comes with being the focal point. Everyone in the gym knew that our offense was going to run through Avery almost every night. She never ran from that pressure and continued to produce."

Montana, the Big Sky Championship's No. 8 seed, will face No. 7 Northern Arizona on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. in a first-round game at Idaho Central Arena. The game will be streamed on ESPN+.

2025-26 Big Sky Conference Individual Award Winners
Most Valuable Player: Taylee Chirrick, Montana State
Newcomer of the Year: Kyra Gardner, Idaho *
Defensive Player of the Year: Taylee Chirrick, Montana State
Top Reserve: Debora dos Santos, Idaho
Freshman of the Year: Naomi White, Northern Arizona
Coach of the Year: Arthur Moreira, Idaho *

* Unanimous selection

2025-26 First-Team All-Big Sky Conference
Taylee Chirrick, Montana State *
Naomi White, Northern Arizona
Kyra Gardner, Idaho
Hope Hassmann, Idaho
Addison Harris, Montana State
Kacey Spink, Idaho State
Tasia Jordan, Idaho State

* Unanimous selection

2025-26 Second-Team All-Big Sky Conference
Benthe Versteeg, Sacramento State
Debora dos Santos, Idaho
Kourtney Grossman, Eastern Washington
Ella Gallatin, Eastern Washington
Avery Waddington, Montana
Tatum West, Northern Colorado

2025-26 Honorable Mention All-Big Sky Conference
Neenah George, Northern Colorado
Antoniette Emma-Nnopu, Weber State
Rubi Gray, Sacramento State
Kyleigh Brown, Portland State
Heather Baymon, Northern Colorado

2025-26 Big Sky Conference All-Defensive Team
Taylee Chirrick, Montana State
Kacey Spink, Idaho State
Ana Pinheiro, Idaho
Benthe Versteeg, Sacramento State
Tatum West, Northern Colorado

University of Montana Athletics

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Mack Konig

Avery Waddington

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