BOZEMAN — Montana State is a No. 13 seed for the NCAA women's basketball tournament.
The Bobcats (30-3) will play at fourth-seeded Ohio State (25-6) in Columbus, Ohio, on Friday at 3:30 p.m. Mountain Time in the first round of the Birmingham (Ala.) Region 3 bracket, it was announced during the NCAA Women's Selection Special on Sunday. It will be the first-ever meeting between the two teams.
It's already been a historic season for Montana State, which has won 30 games in a single season for the first time in program history. The Bobcats won the outright Big Sky Conference regular-season title and then earned the league's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament with a thrilling 58-57 win over rival Montana in the Big Sky championship game.
At the Bobcats' watch party at Brick Breeden Fieldhouse, athletic director Leon Costello announced the university agreed to a new four-year contract with coach Tricia Binford, who has guided the Bobcats since 2005. She has a career record of 359 wins and 252 losses.
This is the third NCAA tournament appearance for Montana State under Binford and fourth overall in program history. The Bobcats last made the tournament in 2022, when they lost to Stanford in the first round. Montana State has never won a game in the NCAA tournament.
Ohio State went 13-5 in the Big 10 Conference and lost to UCLA in the semifinals of the conference tournament on March 8. The Buckeyes were ranked 15th in the latest Associated Press top 25 poll.
