BOZEMAN — The best way to describe the Montana State women's basketball season this year is historic.
The team was able to capture the program's first national postseason tournament win and continued on to win multiple.
Bobcats coach Tricia Binford said it's hard to put how proud she is of her team into multiple words.
"(They're) a very young group, a very humble group, a fearless group, and what they've accomplished a historic season and how they've done it together has been absolutely amazing," Binford said. "It's been a heck of a ride."
Sophomore guard Taylee Chirrick shared the same sentiment.
"I'm so proud of everyone," Chirrick said. "Just to see the improvement from everybody on the team, the way that we work hard and just do our best to compete against these teams that have juniors and seniors that have been here for years."
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The team fell short in the Big Sky tournament to miss March Madness, and also did not receive a WBIT bid despite a strong resume.
However, the WNIT experience was still very valuable for Binford and the Bobcats.
"When we didn't get the opportunity to represent the WBIT, to know what these two weeks would feel like afterwards was absolutely worth it in every single facet," Binford said.
And with the Bobcats' run to the WNIT Great 8 came two home games in front of packed Montana State crowds.
"Our community has embraced this team all season long and to be a part of this run ... you could talk about all the accomplishments, but 27 wins without seniors on the squad, it's been unbelievable," Binford said.
Even in just her second year as a Bobcat, Chirrick stepped into a veteran role on the team and went on to win both Big Sky MVP and the league's defensive player of the year awards.
She had high praise for all of her young teammates for their resilience all season.
"The freshmen stepped up immensely," said Chirrick, who announced this week that she will return to the Bobcats next season. "You have Jamison (Phillip) playing really scrappy, you have Kadynce (Couture) coming in and working super hard, Brianne (Bailey), she's just always working and doing great rebounding."
"I think just everyone working hard together and flowing well together, even people on the bench that aren't playing as many minutes as others, they're still supporting and giving advice of things they're seeing," Chirrick said. "So I think everyone's well rounded."
The young team worked through growing pains to get to the point of playing as deep into March as they did.
Binford said her team has grown in every way.
"The leadership has been a big part of it," Binford said. "We graduated a lot of experience last year, but seeing kids gain their confidence, seeing them add to their elements of what they can bring to the table on the court ... you could go through this entire squad of improvement."
The team was challenged from Day 1, beginning with a tough non-conference season.
"We also threw at them one of the most difficult preseason schedules we've ever had," Binford said. "We'll play anybody, anywhere, anytime. They're pretty fearless. They're going to step up to the plate, they're always going to give their all."
And despite falling to South Dakota on the road in WNIT on Sunday, there were many positives to take away.
"We didn't get the job done," Binford. "We fell a little bit short, but not with a lack of effort."
The team will look to take the success from this 2025-26 season into the fall and continue building that momentum and more historic runs for the program.
