AT COLLEGE: April 24, 2025

Avery Waddington

Montana women's basketball

Waddington, a 6-foot-3 freshman guard from Lake City High, was named the Grace Geil Most Improved Player during the team's awards banquet last week in Missoula. Over the season's final 12 games, she scored 10 or more points 10 times and averaged 14.7 points and 7.7 rebounds per game in the Big Sky Conference Tournament in Boise. Her 319 points were second-most for a true freshman, behind Hollie Tyler. "Avery went from being a talent to being a dependable basketball player, someone who could be counted on, which is more than most freshmen get to," Montana coach Nate Harris said. "Not a lot of freshmen get by on talent along and she wasn't going to be any different. She needed to buy into what college basketball is and the effort that it takes, the commitment and the consistency that it takes. That's where her growth was, how she showed up every single day. By the end of the year, she was somebody that we were really, really counting on. She went from being this incredible talent to being this incredible, dependable, very important player for us. That was her growth."

• ACADEMIC AWARDS

Lewis-Clark State had 48 spring student-athletes earn Daktronics NAIA Scholar-Athlete honors. To qualify, students must maintain a 3.5 on a 4.0 scale and have attended their institution for at least one full year. Among the local honorees were sophomore James Bogdanowicz (Coeur d'Alene High) and senior Carter Gordon (Lake City High).