# 2015–16 Montana State Bobcats women's basketball team

The 2015–16 Montana State Bobcats women's basketball team represented Montana State University during the 2015–16 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Bobcats, led by tenth year head coach Tricia Binford, played their home games at Worthington Arena and were members of the Big Sky Conference. They finished the season 21–10, 14–4 in Big Sky play to win the Big Sky regular season championship. They lost in the quarterfinals of the Big Sky women's tournament where they lost to Idaho State. As champs of the Big Sky Conference who failed to win their conference tournament, they received an automatic bid to the Women's National Invitation Tournament where they lost to Utah in the first round.
John Stockton, the NBA's all-time leader in assists and steals, and a member of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, joined as an assistant coach to replace Kellee Barney. Barney left the program to pursue a career in business, and Stockton had previously coached four of the players on the MSU women's team during Amateur Athletic Union leagues.

## Schedule

| Date time, TV | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| 11/04/2015* 7:00 pm | Montana Tech | W 79–51 | | Worthington Arena Bozeman, Montana |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| 11/13/2015* 5:30 pm | at Seattle | W 80–51 | 1–0 | KeyArena Seattle, Washington |
| 11/15/2015* 3:00 pm | at Nevada | W 66–53 | 2–0 | Lawlor Events Center (897) Reno, Nevada |
| 11/20/2015* 5:30 pm | Portland | W 86–57 | 3–0 | Worthington Arena (1,192) Bozeman, Montana |
| 11/24/2015* 8:00 pm | San Diego | L 49–62 | 3–1 | Worthington Arena (709) Bozeman, Montana |
| 11/27/2015* 6:00 pm | vs. Evansville Cal Poly/ShareSLO Holiday Tournament | W 81–55 | 4–1 | Mott Athletic Center (105) San Luis Obispo, California |
| 11/28/2015* 6:00 pm | at Cal Poly Cal Poly/ShareSLO Holiday Tournament | L 57–66 | 4–2 | Mott Athletic Center (1,348) San Luis Obispo, California |
| 12/03/2015* 7:00 pm | Cal State Fullerton | W 89–66 | 5–2 | Worthington Arena (1,068) Bozeman, Montana |
| 12/06/2015* 3:00 pm | at Gonzaga | L 52–65 | 5–3 | McCarthey Athletic Center (6,000) Spokane, Washington |
| 12/15/2015* 7:00 pm | Montana–Western | W 74–36 | 6–3 | Worthington Arena (984) Bozeman, Montana |
| 12/19/2015* 5:00 pm | at Wyoming | L 69–75 $^{OT}$ | 6–4 | Arena-Auditorium (2,521) Laramie, Wyoming |
| 12/21/2015* 7:00 pm | Carroll (MT) | W 74–34 | 7–4 | Worthington Arena (1,352) Bozeman, Montana |
| Big Sky regular season ||||||
| 12/31/2015 2:00 pm | Southern Utah | W 86–59 | 8–4 (1–0) | Worthington Arena (1,223) Bozeman, Montana |
| 01/02/2016 2:00 pm | Northern Arizona | W 86–77 $^{OT}$ | 9–4 (2–0) | Worthington Arena (1,238) Bozeman, Montana |
| 01/07/2016 8:00 pm | at Sacramento State | W 80–79 | 10–4 (3–0) | Hornets Nest (315) Sacramento, California |
| 01/09/2016 3:00 pm | at Portland State | W 106–59 | 11–4 (4–0) | Peter Stott Center (260) Portland, Oregon |
| 01/14/2016 7:00 pm | North Dakota | W 69–61 | 12–4 (5–0) | Worthington Arena (1,284) Bozeman, Montana |
| 01/16/2016 2:00 pm | Northern Colorado | W 66–58 | 13–4 (6–0) | Worthington Arena (1,493) Bozeman, Montana |
| 01/21/2016 7:00 pm | at Eastern Washington | L 69–81 | 13–5 (6–1) | Reese Court (885) Cheney, Washington |
| 01/23/2016 3:00 pm | at Idaho | W 62–59 | 14–5 (7–1) | Cowan Spectrum (874) Moscow, Idaho |
| 01/30/2016 2:00 pm | Montana | W 61–52 | 15–5 (8–1) | Worthington Arena (3,526) Bozeman, Montana |
| 02/04/2016 7:00 pm | Portland State | W 74–64 | 16–5 (9–1) | Worthington Arena (1,221) Bozeman, Montana |
| 02/06/2016 2:00 pm | Sacramento State | W 116–99 | 17–5 (10–1) | Worthington Arena (1,678) Bozeman, Montana |
| 02/11/2016 7:00 pm | at Northern Arizona | W 83–72 | 18–5 (11–1) | Walkup Skydome (503) Flagstaff, Arizona |
| 02/13/2015 7:00 pm | at Southern Utah | W 87–66 | 19–5 (12–1) | Centrum Arena (1,211) Cedar City, Utah |
| 02/20/2016 2:00 pm | at Montana | L 66–70 | 19–6 (12–2) | Dahlberg Arena (4,249) Missoula, Montana |
| 02/25/2016 8:00 pm | Weber State | W 92–71 | 20–6 (13–2) | Worthington Arena (1,452) Bozeman, Montana |
| 02/27/2016 8:00 pm | Idaho State | W 82–80 $^{OT}$ | 21–6 (14–2) | Worthington Arena (2,139) Bozeman, Montana |
| 03/02/2016 7:00 pm | at Northern Colorado | L 73–80 | 21–7 (14–3) | Bank of Colorado Arena (890) Greeley, Colorado |
| 03/04/2016 1:00 pm | at North Dakota | L 76–77 | 21–8 (14–4) | Betty Engelstad Sioux Center (1,671) Grand Forks, North Dakota |
| Big Sky Women's Tournament ||||||
| 03/09/2016 1:05 pm | vs. Idaho State Quarterfinals | L 50–52 | 21–9 | Reno Events Center (1,104) Reno, Nevada |
| WNIT ||||||
| 03/18/2016* 7:00 pm | at Utah First Round | L 61–95 | 21–10 | Jon M. Huntsman Center (1,239) Salt Lake City, Utah |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Mountain Time. ||||||