The Utah women’s basketball team showcased their dominance with a decisive 72-53 victory over the previously undefeated Montana State Bobcats on Sunday night at the Huntsman Center. This win marked the Utes’ fifth victory in six games under new head coach Gavin Petersen, who lauded his team’s effort.

The Utes set the tone early, forcing nine first-quarter turnovers to establish a 19-12 lead. Their relentless defensive pressure was a hallmark of the game, with Utah ultimately forcing 21 turnovers. Gianna Kneepkens emerged as the offensive star, delivering 19 points, including several timely three-pointers that energized the home crowd. “It makes it easy when my teammates find me,” Kneepkens said, crediting Utah’s cohesive ball movement for the team’s offensive flow.

Maye Toure added to the Utes’ balanced attack, finishing with 12 points and six rebounds. Her inside presence, particularly in the fourth quarter, helped Utah extend their lead to 20 points, forcing Montana State into a late timeout. Freshman Kylie Ray also made an impact with her energy and composure in extended minutes, while Ines Viera provided steady leadership as the team’s primary facilitator, recording her 400th career assist along with nine points.

Defensively, Utah smothered Montana State’s star player Marah Dykstra, limiting her to tough shots despite her game-high 22 points. Reese Ross contributed crucial rebounding off the bench, leading the team with eight boards. “Rebounding is something I take pride in,” Ross said, underscoring Utah’s depth and grit.

Next, the Utes head to the Cayman Islands to face Mississippi State and No. 6 Notre Dame, a challenging test that Petersen views as an opportunity for growth and team bonding. “This is where the memories are made,” he remarked, looking ahead to the journey.

The Cascade County Deputy Sheriff Association hosted a competition for students in the County schools to design a license plate that represents Montana, and the winner’s design will be available as a license plate all over the state.

Cascade student designs Montana license plate

The competition included all grade levels at county schools in Belt, Centerville, Ulm, Cascade, Vaughn, Fort Shaw, and Simms. The competition did not extend to Great Falls Public Schools. The only guideline for the license plate design was to come up with a design that represents Montana.

Community Resource Deputy at the Cascade County Sheriff’s Office, Deputy Alec Lugo says, “They had free rein to use their imagination and decide to design a plate that best represents Montana in their vision.We saw all sorts of unique designs, a lot of different things about Montana ranging from wildfire to fishing to the animals to the mountains. We saw a lot of good designs that were submitted.”

After receiving around 80 submissions from students of all ages across the county, the Cascade County Deputy Sheriff Association narrowed the competition down to one winning design, from Cascade School senior Nordika Goetze.

Goetze explains, “I kind of wanted to do what I thought about whenever I thought about Montana. And that was nature, obviously.”

Goetze’s design features Lake McDonald and mountains in Glacier National Park, and animals representing the state including a grizzly bear, a cutthroat trout, and a mourning cloak butterfly in three different phases.

“I can’t believe it,” Goetze says. “It’s crazy to think that it will be on people’s cars, and it will be, like, throughout the state, somewhere in Montana on someone’s car.”

Once the state approves Goetze’s design, the license plate will be available across Montana.

The proceeds from these license plate sales will go back into the Cascade County community and into the Cascade Charity fund, funding events such as ‘Shop with the Sheriff’ and ‘Stuff the Bus’ events.

Nordika’s design will be available state-wide in 2025.

For more information on events by the Cascade County Deputy Sheriff Association, click here.

MISSOULA — Montana State senior Brody Grebe is a finalist for the Buck Buchanan Award, which annually recognizes the FCS national defensive player of the year.

The 35 finalists were announced Tuesday.

Grebe, the Big Sky Conference’s preseason defensive MVP, has 28 tackles, including 16 solo, on the season. The 6-foot-2, 248-pound defensive end from Melstone also has 7.5 tackles for loss, six sacks, a forced fumble and three pass break-ups.

Grebe wears Montana State’s legacy No. 41.

The Bobcats finished the regular season 12-0 and won the outright Big Sky championship. They are the No. 1 overall seed for the FCS playoffs and will play their first playoff game against Tennessee Martin or New Hampshire on Dec. 7.

Idaho’s Keyshawn James-Newby and UC Davis’ David Meyer are also finalists for the Buck Buchanan Award.

James-Newby is a Helena High School graduate who played his first two collegiate seasons at Montana Tech, where he was a first-team All-Frontier Conference player. This season at Idaho, James-Newby, a 6-2, 240-pound defensive end, has 54 tackles (30 solo), 13.5 tackles for loss, 9.5 sacks and two forced fumbles.

The Vandals (9-3) are the No. 8 seed in the FCS playoffs and will play either Lehigh or Richmond on Dec. 7.

Meyer, a 6-1, 230-pound linebacker, has 104 tackles (63 solo) this season for the Aggies. He also added 6.5 tackles for loss and four interceptions for Davis, which is the No. 5 seed for the FCS playoffs. The Aggies will play Illinois State or Southeast Missouri in a second-round game on Dec. 7.