Montana
Bobcat Women Hold Blue-Gold Scrimmage Wednesday – Montana State University Athletics
By March, her words came to fruition as the Bobcats recorded a school record 30-4 slate, won the Big Sky Conference regular season and tournament titles, and made the program’s fourth NCAA Championship appearance.
Fast forward 365 days, and Binford has the 2025-26 edition of Montana State women’s basketball headed the same direction.
“I think every coach would like to progress a little faster than we are, but the effort’s been great,” said Binford, who enters her 21st season with the Blue and Gold. “Each week we have gotten better. We are moving in the right direction. We’ve started to build some chemistry, and we see areas that are going to be strong. This team is amazingly fast and we’re working on getting that fine balance of being fast without being rushed.”
Binford gets her first glimpse of the Bobcats’ in-game as they face their men’s scout team in the annual Blue-Gold Scrimmage, Wednesday at 7 p.m., in Worthington Arena. The scrimmage is free and open to the public.
“The big thing we want out of Blue-Gold is to get our transition defense established,” she said. “The last few years our identity has been defense. Last year’s team took this tremendous leap of what we were capable of doing in the backcourt. A lot of that impact was maximizing our depth. I believe we are even faster this year, and we want to be able to do what we love to do on the defensive end.”
Offensively, the Bobcats must fill the shoes of Big Sky Conference MVP Esmeralda Morales, who poured in 15.4 points per game and connected on 79 three-pointers, along with all-conference forward Marah Dykstra.
According to Binford, scoring will come from different areas.
“We need to get at least a percentage of our offense from defense,” Binford said. “That’s where it has to start. But I do feel our scoring will be as balanced as ever. We’ll take the non-conference to see which rotations work best and tweak things as needed. I do feel like it could be different kids scoring each night.”
MSU returns seven letterwinners, including Taylee Chirrick the Big Sky Conference Defensive Player of the Year, along with six newcomers. The Bobcats play two exhibition games (Oct. 27 & 30) before opening the season against Carroll College, Nov. 4 at 7 p.m. in the Brick Breeden Fieldhouse.
MISSOULA, Mont. — A California woman who tried to smuggle her husband into the United States through northwest Montana has been sentenced to six months of probation, according to U.S. Attorney Kurt Alme.
Tracy Routh Lautenslager, 54, pleaded guilty in August 2025 to conspiracy to bring an alien into the United States at a location other than a designated port of entry. U.S. District Judge Dana L. Christensen presided over the case.
Court documents allege Lautenslager entered the U.S. through the Roosville Port of Entry on April 1, 2025, then drove to the Swisher Lake area near Lake Koocanusa. Border Patrol agents later learned a man had crossed the border on foot nearby. Canadian authorities eventually apprehended the man, identified as Lautenslager’s husband, a citizen of Great Britain with no legal status in the U.S.
Investigators say Lautenslager admitted the couple planned to avoid the port of entry by having her husband cross illegally while she drove into the U.S. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Katy Stack and investigated by the U.S. Border Patrol as part of Operation Take Back America.
Miley Cyrus opens up about vocal condition behind her raspy voice
Miley Cyrus has revealed that she has Reinke’s edema, a condition affecting her vocal cords that gives her voice its raspy tone.
unbranded – Entertainment
Move over Miley Cyrus, Hannah Montana is coming.
The “Flowers” singer is revisiting her Disney Channel roots, donning the signature blonde look of the fictional popstar ahead of the sitcom’s 20th anniversary in March.
At the Annual Palm Springs International Film Festival on Jan. 3, Cyrus confirmed she is involved with plans for the milestone date.
“Absolutely. We’re working hard on them,” she told Variety.
While she said she couldn’t say more about what’s in store for fans, Cyrus pointed to her blonde hairstyle, adding, “You see the bangs.”
Cyrus starred in the series alongside Emily Osment, Mitchel Musso and father Billy Ray Cyrus, between March 2006 and January 2011, and starred in the 2009 feature film “Hannah Montana: The Movie.” Under the Hannah Montana persona, she also released multiple platinum-selling soundtracks and headlined the Best of Both Worlds Tour, which grossed over $54 million.
What’s happening for the Hannah Montana 20th anniversary?
The Grammy-winning musician first teased plans for the anniversary in a July 22 interview on SiriusXM.
“I want to design something really, really special for it because it really was the beginning of all of this,” she said. “Without Hannah, there wouldn’t really be this me.”
“It’s crazy to think that I started as a character that I thought was going to be impossible to shed, and now that’s something that when I walk into a space, it’s looked at as this sense of kind of, like, nostalgia or something that you have from your childhood,” she added. “So, that’s exciting to get to celebrate that.”
Will there be a Hannah Montana tour in 2026?
Cyrus has not announced plans to tour as “Hannah Montana” for the show’s 20th anniversary.
While exact anniversary plans remain under wraps, a tour seems unlikely, as Cyrus has previously expressed a lack of interest in touring.
During a May 2023 interview with British Vogue, the “Something Beautiful” singer added that while she enjoys performing for her friends, noting that “singing for hundreds of thousands of people isn’t really the thing that I love.”
Contributing: Edward Segarra, USA TODAY
BOZEMAN — For the second consecutive week, Montana State sophomore guard Taylee Chirrick has been named Big Sky Conference player of the week, the league office announced Tuesday.
The 5-foot-11 product of Roberts scored the game-winning basket with 1.7 seconds remaining to lift the Bobcats to a 71-70 upset of Big 12 member Colorado on Sunday afternoon at the CU Events Center. Chirrick finished the contest with 21 points, which included a 7-for-7 effort at the free throw line.
Chirrick once again stuffed the stat sheet, pulling down a team-best six rebounds, while adding four steals, three assists and a pair of 3-pointers in the victory.
Chirrick is currently ranked third in the nation averaging 4.5 steals per game, and her 27 total steals rank 14th overall. Her 19.8 points per game rank second in the Big Sky and 28th in the nation.
Montana State opens the Big Sky Conference/Summit League Challenge on Wednesday at North Dakota State in Fargo. Tip is slated for 6 p.m. (MT) in the Scheels Center. The game will air live on the CBS Sports Network.
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