Lady Griz great Skyla Sisco loses cancer battle
Daily Inter Lake | Daily Inter-Lake | UPDATED 1 month AGO
The University of Montana lost a legendary athlete last week: Skyla Sisco, a standout Lady Griz basketball player, passed away after a six-year battle with breast cancer on Nov. 13.
Sisco, who was 50, was a three-sport standout at Malta High School who led the M-Ettes to their first State B girls basketball title in 1991, plus a runner-up finish in 1992. In 1991 and 1993 she cleared 5 feet, 7 inches to win the State B high jump; those marks are still the record.
From Malta she landed a scholarship with the Lady Griz under coach Robin Selvig. Sisco was all-Big Sky Conference four times from 1994-98 and was named Most Valuable Player for the 1997-98 season.
An obituary supplied to the Missoulian and later posted to Facebook noted Sisco earned a bachelor’s degree from UM in health and human performance and then a Master’s in psychology.
After UM she played professional basketball overseas and also had the “shortest WNBA stint in history.” She was issued a jersey and locker by the Phoenix Mercury only to be released hours later.
Sisco was inducted into the Montana High School Association Athletes’ Hall of Fame in 2001, into the Grizzly Sports Hall of Fame in 2021 and into the Ultimate Hall of Fame in 2024; she played ultimate frisbee at the highest level, contributing to a national title in 2008.
In 2013 the Big Sky Conference honored her as one of the league’s top 25 female athletes.
She is survived by her husband, Michael Faris, her dog, Asha, her parents Dan and Marla, her brother Paul and three nieces and nephews.
A celebration of life is planned for Dec. 15 at the Adams Center. Doors open at 2:12 p.m. — Sisco wore No. 12 for the Lady Griz — and the celebration begins at 3 p.m.
Her family asks that in lieu of flowers donations be made to the Skyla Sisco Scholarship at First State Bank of Malta.