BOISE, Idaho — What’s the analogy to use here?
To watch Taylee Chirrick play defense is to watch a ball hawk, an athlete who doesn’t take her eyes off the basketball for even a second while she’s hunting her latest kill.
So is she the apex predator of the Big Sky Conference?
To hear Chirrick talk lovingly about her teammates, about her school, about her two “hometowns”… it’s hard to categorize her as an aggressive hunter. Instead, she seems more like a den mother, even though she’s only a sophomore.
But to see her unleash her quickness, speed and penchant as the best thief in college basketball, it’s hard to question that she’s at anywhere but the top of the food chain.
Perhaps the analogy is as the girl next door? It’s impossible to deny her charisma and authenticity. It’s easy to imagine her as an elementary school teacher (her major) once she’s finished rewriting the defensive record books in the Big Sky Conference.
And that she has Montana roots makes people hopeful. So perhaps Chirrick is “the next great hope”? The Montana State star spent half her stellar high school career at Billings West and the other half at tiny Class C Roberts, where she rewrote the record books in both basketball and track & field, helping lead the Rockets to their first state hoops tournament ever and to a state track & field title to cap her prep career.
Do those Treasure State roots mean Chirrick is at Montana State for the long haul? It sure seems so. She’s risen to the level of popularity around the Gallatin Valley that MSU head coach Tricia Binford is convinced if Montana State sold No. 44 jerseys, Chirrick’s would be the top seller.
The money will come. The decision will be hers. But for now, she’s the best player in the Big Sky Conference. And people around the league know it.
“If I had the vote for the league MVP right now, I would tell you who I would vote for,” Montana first-year head coach Nate Harris said following Montana State’s 82-44 dismantling of his team on January 17 in which Chirrick had 19 points, six rebounds and four steals.
“She is always somebody that is a great athlete, a great defender, super active and she’s become a much more complete player. Her ability to shoot now, when you are as athletic as her, that’s dangerous. There’s a lot of season left but she’s playing like someone that is the league MVP right now.”
Harris’s words proved prophetic. Last week, Chirrick became the first Montana State woman to sweep the Big Sky’s Most Outstanding Player and Defensive Player of the Year. She’s the fifth player in Big Sky history to win defensive MVP honors twice. And again, her career is only half finished.
“She’s so talented and she just gets it done,” Weber State head coach Jenteal Jackson said. “She’s elite. She’s the MVP for a reason. She’s an elite competitor and you can’t take a second off with that kid because if you do, she’s going to rip the ball from your hands.”
Chirrick gives her time all over the Bozeman community. She volunteers at elementary schools around the area. She has an NIL deal with the Montana Army National Guard. She willingly and pleasantly signs autographs by the hundreds following each of Montana State’s wins, of which there have been 54 in Chirrick’s two years with the program.
“Our kids know this is bigger than basketball,” Binford said. “This is a group that has a chemistry, a connection. They understand the privilege and responsibility of connecting with your community. One of the things people don’t even realize about Taylee is her giving outside of basketball to the community. The hours she puts in outside of basketball…I get emails all the time whether it’s special Olympics or at an elementary school.
“She was recognized as one of the students in service. The kids we are recruiting, like Taylee, we start with that and we finish with that and I feel like we grow along that way feeling like they’ve been a part of this legacy that they’ve left here. They’ve impacted the community on a really high level.
“Taylee is getting all this recognition but she’s always been all about her team and her family. And she’s always been giving to her community. She’s obviously a special player. She’s also a very special person.”
The combination of the ability to take the ball away from an opponent at an elite level, the newfound confidence to dominate her opponent with the ball in her hands and the seamless transition she made going from upstart freshman game-wrecker who came off the bench last season on MSU’s NCAA Tournament team to the leader of a team without a senior that’s still in the mix for an NCAA Tournament has been impressive to say the least.
When she guards the ball or the inbounds pass in Montana State’s full-court press, she acts like a predatory feline stalking her prey. On Sunday in MSU’s 78-57 win over rivalry Montana — the third win this season and the 16th in the last 19 for the Bobcats — Chirrick rolled up 13 points, 10 rebounds, six steals and five assists. On the first of those steals, a record-breaker, she simply jumped in the air and snared the inbounds pass out of the air, a rare feet in any level of basketball.
She now has 130 steals this year, the most in the history of MSU or the Big Sky Conference. She broke former Montana State standout Liz Holtz’s record that has stood since 1989. She averaged nearly 4.5 steals per game, the second-best theft rate in the country.
“It’s for sure natural talent. But then there’s the piece of she’s a perfect fit for our program. We were not the level of pressing team we are now prior to last season. And that’s because of Taylee’s speed and athleticism,” Binford said. “We increased things we wanted to do in the back court based on a kid like Taylee Chirrick. We were really known for our half-court defense previously, but the things we’re doing now with our presses is taking advantage of maximizing her gifts.”
The defensive trajectory is not that stunning considering Chirrick averaged 3.2 steals in about 20 minutes per game as a super sub on Montana State’s record-setting Big Sky title team. That squad set a league record with 30 wins before hitting a brick wall in Columbus, Ohio against Ohio State in the NCAA Tournament last season.
Montana State lost a bulk of its roster from last season, including league MVP Esmeralda Morales to graduation and first-team All-Big Sky forward Marah Dykstra to transfer (Michigan State). This year’s team returned not a single senior. Dylan Phillip, a skilled guard who was a starter last season and would’ve been a senior floor general this season, tore her ACL against Montana last year, causing her to miss this entire campaign.
MSU has hardly missed a beat. Chirrick hit a buzzer-beater in Boulder to help MSU defeat Colorado 71-70, giving the Bobcats the non-conference Power 4 win that eluded them last season. That’s just one of the many examples of how much her game has improved offensively.
“It’s been super fun to get to step up this year,” Chirrick said. “Our bench is super young. Our team is super young. And that’s really exciting. The bench being young and the group being young and able to step up, they are improving each and every game and it’s really exciting to see how that progresses throughout the season.”
“We all knew we needed to step up because we knew we were losing all-class players. It’s been really fun. It’s been pretty easy to take on that role just because it was natural.”
Last season, Chirrick averaged 6.9 points and 4.3 rebounds, garnering most of her attention for her ability to spearhead Montana State’s relentless full-court trapping defense. This season, with first-team All-Big Sky sophomore Addison Harris more than filling in for Dykstra, true freshman point guard Jamison Phillip (Dylan’s sister) stepping up big time and Chirrick exploding like a super nova, Montana State has forced even more turnovers per game.
MSU averages 26 forced turnovers per contest, which is top 5 in the country. The Bobcats have some of the most eye-popping defensive performances in the history of the league this season, holding three different league foes to 40 points or less and a total of seven to 55 points or fewer.
But it’s Chirrick’s unbelievable evolution offensively that made her the Big Sky MVP. She averaged 17.7 points per game (second in the conference) while shooting 45.4 percent from the floor and 33 percent from beyond the arc. To put that in perspective, she shot 38 percent from the field and 24 percent from the 3-point line as a freshman.
“I’ve been so impressed with how she’s progressed on the offensive side of the ball, too,” Jackson said. “She’s a real deadly threat from 3. She’s a huge piece for Montana State. Well deserving most valuable player in our league.”
Chirrick’s level of athleticism combined with her grace is a sight to behold. During one sequence in Montana State’s 72-55 win over Montana in Missoula, she over-pursued in a passing lane, and instead of nabbing a steal, she fell flat on her face. A normal person would’ve labored, at least slightly, to return to their feet. They probably would’ve needed to use their hands or arms to hoist themselves back up.
Chirrick, instead, hit the ground and somehow appeared to bounce back up right on to her feet in one fluid movement without using her hands. If you weren’t watching, you probably didn’t notice. If you were, she looked like a world-class break dancer doing the worm. That’s how athletic Chirrick is.
Binford, who played in the WNBA and has been around elite athletes her whole life, says she’s only ever seen one other basketball player with Chirrick’s combination of speed and endurance.
“I had a teammate in the pros, her name was Debbie Black, and she had to run a couple of miles before games because she had so much energy,” Binford said. “That’s Taylee.
“The most impressive part about her is that I’ve still never seen her get tired. There was a practice over Christmas Break, coaches came back after practice, it was a two hour practice, and there’s Taylee running 300-meter hurdles after practice for fun.
“This young lady needs to continue running. She’s built that way. She could be a world-class track athlete. She’s really fearless.”
The sophomore who’s been deemed the “Roberts Robber” by MSU ESPN+ play-by-play man Ian Laird certainly showed her track and distance running potential in high school. She won three events at the Class C track meet, setting records in the 400 meters, 800 meters, and 300-meter hurdles while leading the Rockets to the team state championship.
She runs so fluidly, it’s hard to not wonder what she could do if she dedicated all her time and energy to being a long hurdler or a 400/800-meter sprinter.
Instead, she’s using those gifts to wreak havoc on the rest of the Big Sky. Her triple-double against Weber State was the first in the history of women’s college basketball that included 30 or more points, 10 or more rebounds and 10 or more steals in less than 30 minutes of action.
She has Montana State on the brink as the Bobcats hope to push into the NCAA Tournament for the fourth time under Binford. MSU and top-seeded Idaho split during the regular season with the ‘Cats ripping the Vandals 99-66 in Bozeman and Idaho winning 79-73 in overtime in Moscow.
Before that rematch ensues, Idaho will need to get through upstart No. 5 Sac State, a 62-53 victor over No. 4 Idaho State on Monday afternoon. And the Bobcats will need to outlast No. 6 Eastern Washington after the Eagles rallied from a double-digit deficit to win 55-54 against No. 3 Northern Colorado.
With each win, the legend of the apex predator continues to grow. With each autograph session, the reputation as the sweetheart of Bobcat athletics does, too. And every time she takes the court for the Bobcats, hope remains at the forefront.
“There’s nothing she can’t do,” Binford said. “Her motor is amazing. The way she’s embraced this is amazing. The sky is the limit for her to reach her potential.
