2021–22 Montana State Bobcats women's basketball team

The 2021–22 Montana State Bobcats women's basketball team represented Montana State University during the 2021–22 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Bobcats, led by seventeenth year head coach Tricia Binford, played their home games at Brick Breeden Fieldhouse and were members of the Big Sky Conference.

2021–22 Montana State Bobcats women's basketball
Big Sky tournament champions
NCAA tournament, first round
Conference	Big Sky Conference
Record	22–13 (14–6 Big Sky)
Head coach	Tricia Binford (17th season)
Assistant coaches	Sunny Smallwood Blaire Braxton Katie Bussey
Home arena	Brick Breeden Fieldhouse

2021–22 Big Sky women's basketball standings

	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Idaho State	15	–	5		.750			19	–	12		.613
Montana State †	14	–	6		.700			22	–	13		.629
Southern Utah	14	–	6		.700			18	–	12		.600
Northern Arizona	12	–	8		.600			17	–	14		.548
Montana	12	–	8		.600			19	–	11		.633
Idaho	11	–	9		.550			14	–	18		.438
Sacramento State	10	–	10		.500			14	–	16		.467
Northern Colorado	9	–	11		.450			15	–	16		.484
Eastern Washington	7	–	13		.350			9	–	21		.300
Weber State	6	–	14		.300			11	–	20		.355
Portland State	0	–	20		.000			5	–	24		.172
† Big Sky tournament winner

They finished the season 22–13, 14–6 in Big Sky play to finish in a tie for second place. As the second seed in the Big Sky tournament, the earned a bye into the Quarterfinals where they defeated Weber State. They then defeated Idaho in the Semifinals and Northern Arizona in the Finals to win the tournament for the third time in team history. They received an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament and were the sixteen seed in the Spokane Regional. They were defeated in the First Round by one seed Stanford to end their season.

Previous season

The Bobcats finished the season 17–7, 13–3 in Big Sky play to finish in third place. As the third seed in the Big Sky tournament, the earned a bye into the Quarterfinals where they defeated Sacramento State before losing to Idaho in the Semifinals. They were not invited to the NCAA tournament or the WNIT.

Roster

2021–22 Montana State Bobcats women's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Year Previous school Hometown G 0 Darian White 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m) Jr Mountain View Boise, ID F 1 Mia Hughes 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) Fr Woodinville Woodinville, WA G 3 Ashley Van Sickle 5 ft 7 in (1.7 m) Sr Ralston Valley Arvada, CO G 5 Ava Ranson 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) So Timberline Boise, ID F 10 Kola Bad Bear 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) Jr Billings Senior Billings, MT F 11 Katelynn Limardo 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) So Silver Silver City, NM G 15 Leia Beattie 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) So Midland Classical Academy Midland, TX G 20 Madison Jackson 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) Jr Parma Parma, ID F 21 Lexi Deden 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) So Sentinel Missoula, MT F 23 Gabby Mocchi 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) Sr Champlin Park Champlin, MN F/C 24 Taylor Janssen 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) So Rosemount Rosemount, MN F 30 Kenzie Stumne 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) RS So Forest Lake Forest Lake, MN C 33 Lindsey Hein 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) Fr Forsyth Forsyth, MT	Head coach Tricia Binford (Boise State) Assistant coach(es) Sunny Smallwood (Boise State) Blaire Braxton (Montana State) Katie Bussey (Montana State) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster Last update: June 1, 2022

Schedule

Source:

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Exhibition
November 6, 2021* 5:00 p.m.		South Dakota Mines	W 94–43	–	Brick Breeden Fieldhouse  Bozeman, MT
Regular Season
November 9, 2021* Noon, ESPN+		Carroll College	W 69–60	1–0	Brick Breeden Fieldhouse (2,802) Bozeman, MT
November 11, 2021* 7:00 p.m.		at Gonzaga	L 47–72	1–1	McCarthey Athletic Center (3,301) Spokane, WA
November 13, 2021* 2:00 p.m.		at UNLV	L 42–80	1–2	Thomas & Mack Center (423) Las Vegas, NV
November 18, 2021* 5:00 p.m., ESPN+		at South Dakota State	L 49–78	1–3	Frost Arena (1,262) Brookings, SD
November 20, 2021* 1:00 p.m.		at North Dakota	L 85–89	1–4	Sioux Center (1,323) Grand Forks, ND
November 26, 2021* 3:30 p.m.		vs. North Texas Holiday Beach Classic	L 78–87	1–5	Mott Athletics Center (323) San Luis Obispo, CA
November 27, 2021* 3:30 p.m., ESPN+		at Cal Poly Holiday Beach Classic	W 67–55	2–5	Mott Athletics Center (341) San Luis Obispo, CA
December 2, 2021 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		Northern Colorado	W 63–57	3–5 (1–0)	Brick Breeden Fieldhouse (1,223) Bozeman, MT
December 4, 2021 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		Sacramento State	W 76–69	4–5 (2–0)	Brick Breeden Fieldhouse (1,338) Bozeman, MT
December 9, 2021* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		MSU-Billings	W 82–81 2OT	5–5	Brick Breeden Fieldhouse (1,196) Bozeman, MT
December 11, 2021* 2:00 p.m., ESPN+		Utah Valley	W 67–58	6–5	Brick Breeden Fieldhouse (1,178) Bozeman, MT
December 18, 2021* 3:00 p.m.		Seattle	W 76–49	7–5	Brick Breeden Fieldhouse (372) Bozeman, MT
December 21, 2021* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		No. 19 BYU	L 67–89	7–6	Brick Breeden Fieldhouse (1,362) Bozeman, MT
December 30, 2021 6:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Weber State	L 63–68	7–7 (2–1)	Dee Events Center (212) Ogden, UT
January 1, 2022 2:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Idaho State	L 57–67	7–8 (2–2)	Reed Gym (910) Pocatello, ID
January 17, 2022 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		Idaho	W 79–69	8–8 (3–2)	Brick Breeden Fieldhouse (1,083) Bozeman, MT
January 20, 2022 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		Northern Arizona	W 88–73	9–8 (4–2)	Brick Breeden Fieldhouse (1,189) Bozeman, MT
January 22, 2022 2:00 p.m., ESPN+		Portland State	W 71–56	10–8 (5–2)	Brick Breeden Fieldhouse (1,622) Bozeman, MT
January 24, 2022 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		Montana	W 73–59	11–8 (6–2)	Brick Breeden Fieldhouse (2,324) Bozeman, MT
January 27, 2022 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Eastern Washington	W 65–55	12–8 (7–2)	Reese Court (232) Cheney, WA
February 3, 2022 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		Idaho State	W 73–68	13–8 (8–2)	Brick Breeden Fieldhouse (1,207) Bozeman, MT
February 5, 2022 2:00 p.m., ESPN+		Weber State	W 74–71	14–8 (9–2)	Brick Breeden Fieldhouse (1,567) Bozeman, MT
February 7, 2022 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Idaho	W 96–84	15–8 (10–2)	Cowan Spectrum (1,161) Moscow, ID
February 10, 2022 6:30 p.m., ESPN+		at Southern Utah	L 60–70	15–9 (10–3)	America First Events Center (397) Cedar City, UT
February 12, 2022 Noon, ESPN+		at Northern Arizona	W 83–77	16–9 (11–3)	Walkup Skydome (356) Flagstaff, AZ
February 17, 2022 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		Eastern Washington	L 69–76	16–10 (11–4)	Brick Breeden Fieldhouse (1,515) Bozeman, MT
February 19, 2022 2:00 p.m., ESPN+		Southern Utah	W 65–47	17–10 (12–4)	Brick Breeden Fieldhouse (1,876) Bozeman, MT
February 21, 2022 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Portland State	W 82–57	18–10 (13–4)	Viking Pavilion (364) Portland, OR
February 26, 2022 7:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Montana	L 57–71	18–11 (13–5)	Dahlberg Arena (4,059) Missoula, MT
March 2, 2022 8:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Sacramento State	W 65–52	19–11 (14–5)	Hornets Nest (207) Sacramento, CA
March 4, 2022 6:00 p.m., ESPN+		at Northern Colorado	L 63–71	19–12 (14–6)	Bank of Colorado Arena (946) Greeley, CO
Big Sky tournament
March 8, 2022 5:30 p.m., ESPN+	(2)	vs. (10) Weber State Quarterfinals	W 81–60	20–12	Idaho Central Arena (1,387) Boise, ID
March 9, 2022 8:00 p.m., ESPN+	(2)	vs. (6) Idaho Semifinals	W 73–67	21–12	Idaho Central Arena (0) Boise, ID
March 11, 2022 1:00 p.m., ESPN+	(2)	vs. (4) Northern Arizona Final	W 75–64	22–12	Idaho Central Arena (956) Boise, ID
NCAA tournament
March 18, 2022 8:00 p.m., ESPN2	(16 S)	at (1 S) No. 2 Stanford First Round	L 37–78	22–13	Maples Pavilion (3,648) Stanford, CA
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. S=Spokane. All times are in Mountain Time.

Rankings

Main article: 2021–22 NCAA Division I women's basketball rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: — = Not ranked

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	Final
AP	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Coaches	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—

Legend

		Increase in ranking
		Decrease in ranking
		Not ranked previous week
(RV)		Received Votes
(NR)		Not Ranked and Did not receive votes

The Coaches Poll did not release a Week 2 poll and the AP Poll did not release a poll after the NCAA Tournament.