BOZEMAN — The Montana State women's basketball team sits atop the Big Sky Conference in first place and is undefeated in league play — in large part due to its depth. A freshman who has made an instant impact is Taylee Chirrick, a product of Class C Roberts who is also making a national statement as a top-10 player in steals per game.
"I haven’t seen anything like it," Montana State coach Tricia Binford said regarding Chirrick's defensive presence. "We’ve had great defenders over the course of our Bobcat history, and we’ve had some defensive players of the year. She’s definitely in that running and well-deserved for that, but for the amount of minutes (she plays) that’s she’s creating (steals) and getting them in every different place, it’s something that hasn’t happened."
"Honestly, I didn’t even mean for that to happen, to be honest," Chirrick said of being ranked ninth nationally at 3.19 steals per game. "That wasn’t really like a goal or anything. I just wanted to go out and play hard, and I think it’s really shown with those numbers, but realistically I’m just trying to play hard."
As a team, MSU leads the nation in steals per game with 14.6. The defensive identity is something integral to Binford’s philosophy and resonated with Chirrick during her recruiting process.
"Definitely, and also the fact that she has always talked about transition basketball, and I think that relates to defense because your transition basketball comes from your defense, and so to be able to have a strong defensive end and push into transition, that was a really big part of it for me," explained Chirrick, who began her high school career at Billings West.
Chirrick was willing to take whatever role from her was needed in her freshman year but strived to have an impact like the one she does now. The hard work and nose for defense has paid off thus far.
"That was obviously my goal," Chirrick said about having an instant impact on the team. "I’ve always been a person that is a game player and likes to run around and be aggressive on the defensive end. I knew I’d try my best to be a big impact for the team, but whatever my role ended up being, I was going to be OK with that. Just coming to be a part of this team has been amazing."
To be a part of a team in her first year with this much success — the Cats currently hold their longest single-season winning streak in program history with 18 straight wins and are 25-2 overall, 15-0 in conference play — that’s a special introduction to her career in Bozeman.
"Only really one team in the Big Sky can be a winning team and have a winning season, and just being able to be a part of that my freshman year is just something that’s surreal and just a great experience," she said.
The Cats have a chance to clinch a regular-season title this week as they take on Portland State on Thursday at 7 p.m in Worthington Arena.
