GREAT FALLS — The Providence Argos women's basketball team has won the last two Frontier Conference tournaments and has seen a good deal of success in recent years, including a NAIA national championship game appearance in 2024.
The page has now turned to the 2025-26 season, where the Argos will have newer faces taking over to try and keep their winning tradition going.
"There's just a culture here and an expectation that we have," forward Ainsley Thurber said at UP's McLaughlin Center during Tuesday's practice. "I think it helps us all rise to the challenge and know that we need to be where we need to be."
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"We have a winning culture and we talked about that at the beginning of the year," forward McKenna Reggear said. "It just really helps us set the tone for the year. And we're just ready to have fun and play, and hopefully make it back (to the conference tournament)."
Thurber and Reggear were key pieces in last year's team, and Reggear was a part of 2024's national title-game run. However, Providence lost a pair of first-team all-conference players in Ashlee Maldonado and Keanna Salave'a over the offseason.
Coach Bill Himmelberg said the Argos identity will be different than years past.
"Going to be a little more group-oriented than some of our other teams," Himmelberg said. "Some of our other teams have had some big superstars in there who were able to go out and dominate a game and take over a game all by themselves.
"I think on this team we have six or seven girls who are all really good players who at any point in time could be the leading scorer in any given night."
Himmelberg — now in his 15th season — also said that the team already has good chemistry together, and called the group one of the best he's had in terms of how much they get along.
"We've had some great teams in the past, so the fact that these girls get along so well really says a lot about them and their commitment," Himmelberg said. "They understand who we are and what we're about here at Providence, and they want to uphold the standards the previous teams have set for us."
Thurber and Reggear reflected similar thoughts, and both said they enjoy the positive energy the team portrays.
"We saw it in our scrimmages before, but it just helps us and makes it so much more fun to play," Thurber said. "I just want everyone to have a smile while playing and enjoy it."
"Have a smile on our face while we're playing and just put everything that we've worked on in practice to use," Reggear said. "Just have fun while we're playing basketball."
Both said they're eager to play the first game this Friday.
"We've put in the work this preseason and we all worked hard over the summer to get where we are right now," Thurber said. "We're just excited to finally have a game."
"It's fun to see how everyone's playing together," Reggear said. "We got a lot of new girls which is fun to see how everything's just building up."
Providence begins its season with a pair of home games Friday and Saturday against Texas A&M-San Antonio and Bushnell (Ore.).
