Taylee Chirrick ties MSU, Big Sky single-season steals record in front of home crowd
By Bill Lamberty MSU ATHLETICS
BOZEMAN—Montana State finished a 23-win regular season and Bobcat guard Taylee Chirrick made history as MSU topped Northern Arizona 68-48 in Bozeman on Monday.
The Bobcats finished the league portion of the 2025-26 schedule with a 23-6 overall mark, and a 16-2 Big Sky Conference record good for second place after Idaho beat Eastern Washington on Monday to clinch sole possession of the regular season title. MSU opens Big Sky Tournament play on Sunday, March 8, against the winner of Saturday’s NAU-Montana game.
Montana State exerted itself defensively on Monday, holding NAU to 34 percent shooting while forcing 32 Lumberjacks turnovers. As always, Chirrick was the tip of the spear defensively for MSU. She came up with seven steals, raising her season total to 124. That ties both the Montana State and Big Sky Conference single-season record of 124, held for 37 years by former Bobcat Liz Holz (1988-89).
“I don’t think she had any idea” she was close to the record, Binford said of Chirrick. “When I put her back in the game (in the fourth quarter) I told her, just get a steal, you’re one away. Usually I tell her, ‘You have one minute,’ but this time I told her to get a steal.”
“I wasn’t really sure where I was at and (Binford) said, ‘Try and get one more and then you’ll tie it. She put me back in the game to do that, so that was really nice of her,” Chirrick said.
The first quarter unfolded as a sluggish affair. The Cats outscored NAU 14-5, but the teams combined to convert just eight of 33 field goal attempts. When Jamison Philip made a layup with 3:25 to play in the second quarter, MSU led 28-9. But a Naomi White three-pointer started 15-4 run to close the half and draw Northern Arizona within 33-24.
The scoring run that NAU began late in the first half spilled into the second. The Lumberjacks scored the first nine points of the third quarter, and when White hit a pullup jumper at 7:22 Northern Arizona tied the score.
The Lumberjacks got a stop and possessed with the chance to take the lead, but a steal by Addison Harris and runout by Addison Harris led to her hitting a layup, then Issy Bunyan drained a three-pointer and Chirrick made a layup to trigger what became a 17-0 run. Montana State led 50-33 after Kadynce Couture’s three-pointer, and NAU never seriously threatened again.
In addition to the seven steals Chirrick scored 16 points and grabbed seven rebounds. Ella Johnson’s nine rebounds led all players, and she added three steals. White’s 21 points led all players, and she added four steals for the Lumberjacks.
