Weber State basketball: Wildcat women burn past Montana Western in annual kids game
WBB final: Weber State 74, Montana Western 33
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- Weber State guard Hannah Robbins (8) drives to the hoop against Montan Western’s Gio Horner (11) on Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025, at the Dee Events Center in Ogden.
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- Weber State forward Paris Lauro passes the ball in a game against Montana Western on Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025, at the Dee Events Center in Ogden.
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- Weber State guard Sydney White (22) pushes a shot to the basket against Montana Western’s Sammi Love (15) on Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025, at the Dee Events Center in Ogden.
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- Weber State forward Makenna Shaffer-Lauer, left, puts up a shot past Montana Western’s Keke Davis (4) on Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025, at the Dee Events Center in Ogden.
With a couple thousand elementary students packing the Dee Events Center seats for Tuesday morning’s matinee against visiting NAIA foe Montana Western, the only drama for Weber State women’s basketball came midway through the fourth quarter when redshirt freshman Maya Davis stepped to the free-throw line.
The score was 65-24, and Davis absorbing a foul meant she stepped to the stripe with a chance to give those rowdy Gen Alpha kids one more thing to scream about: the score reaching the coveted tally of 67.
Davis made the first but, in WSU’s only free-throw miss of the game, the second attempt rattled out.
Aside from that, the Wildcats cruised to a lopsided, 74-33 victory over the Bulldogs to snap a five-game losing streak and give WSU a chance to see the ball go into the net.
Foremost among Weber State players happy to see the cowhide tickle the twine: forward Paris Lauro. The 6-foot junior showed signs of lighting it up from the 3-point line in workouts and practices but, through seven games this season, was 1 of 19 from behind the arc.
Tuesday added to a growing sample that the lid is off for Lauro. She totaled 21 points and nine rebounds, both career highs, to lead WSU (3-7) while shooting 5 of 7 from distance. In the last three games (which include the Big Sky-Summit Challenge games against South Dakota State and North Dakota State), Lauro is 10 of 13 from the 3-point line.
Lauro hit a triple in the first quarter and Lanae Billy hit a corner 3 before the horn to give WSU a 17-4 lead at the first break. Despite seven turnovers in the frame and 18 for the game, the result was elementary from there, especially after growing the advantage to 39-11 at halftime. WSU made 10 of its first 20 3-point attempts, finishing 12 of 30.
Junior guard Hannah Robbins scored 15 points with three 3s. Billy added 11 points in just 14 minutes and senior star Antoniette Emma-Nnopu took a relative day off, totaling two points and nine rebounds in only 11 minutes.
Sydney White totaled nine points and five assists, while Davis added eight points off the bench.
WSU held Montana Western to a 4-of-32 shooting clip in the first half and 21.1% for the game. The visitors totaled three players with six points; Ava Bellach reached six by hitting two of her team’s three 3-pointers.
Weber State has a week off before next hosting another NAIA foe in La Sierra (Riverside, California). That game tips off at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 17.
