Late three spoils comeback

Sunday, November 20

Iowa City, Iowa

10:30 AM (MT)

Montana

1-2

Massachusetts

2-2

Team	1	2	3	4	F
Montana	14	14	13	17	58
Massachusetts	20	16	13	10	59

11/20/2016 2:29:00 PM | Women's Basketball

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By: Montana Sports Information

A 3-pointer at the buzzer gave Massachusetts a 59-58 victory over the Montana women's basketball team on Sunday at the Hawkeye Challenge at Iowa City, Iowa.

The Lady Griz (1-2), who lost 84-43 on Saturday to South Dakota State, fell behind 18-4 in the game's opening six minutes and trailed 36-28 at the half.

Montana took its first lead of the second half, 57-56, on a basket by Taylor Goligoski with 70 seconds left and could have gone up three with 10 seconds left, but McKenzie Johnston hit only one of two free throws. That made it 58-56 and left the door open for a game-winner.

And Hailey Leidel delivered, draining one from the top of the key that video review confirmed was good.

"This one hurts, but I'm so proud of the way the girls hung in there and kept working," said first-year coach Shannon Schweyen.

"It's good experience for us to get in a tight game like this and know what it feels like to lose one at the end that hurts. The next time around we'll be a little more experienced in the same situation."

Freshman Gabi Harrington scored 15 points off the bench to lead Montana, which shot below 30 percent for the second time in two days. Goligoski finished with 12, and Maddie Keast had a breakout game, finishing with 11 points and nine rebounds, both career highs.

Mekayla Isaak had eight points and nine rebounds while playing a career-high 37 minutes, and Johnston added six assists, zero turnovers and 10 rebounds.

It all would have likely added up to a win had Montana started the game better. The Lady Griz made just two of their first 14 shots. At the other end, the Minutewomen opened 8 for 9 to build an early 14-point advantage.

"We buried ourselves to start with," said Schweyen. "We came out and weren't ready to go, and they jumped on us pretty big.

"We kept battling back, and I was proud of that, but if we could have had a little better start, it sure would have helped us."

Montana went more than five minutes between baskets in the first quarter, but the Lady Griz still managed to shoot their way back into it from the arc.

Harrington, Goligoski and Keast all hit 3-pointers in the final two minutes to cut Massachusetts' lead at the first break to 20-14.

A basket by Jace Henderson and five straight points from Harrington gave Montana a 7-0 start to the second quarter and put the Lady Griz up 21-20.

In a first half of runs, the Minutewomen answered with 10 straight points of their own and took a 36-28 lead into halftime.

The teams played an even third quarter, which ended with UMass holding a 49-41 lead.

Like it did in the second quarter, Montana opened the fourth with a strong push to overcome its deficit. Goligoski was 1 for 11 in the first half but 3 for 4 in the second, and her 3-pointer early in the fourth quarter tied the score at 49.

Montana would go more than five minutes until its next basket, but Massachusetts could only extend its lead to six, which left an opening the Lady Griz took advantage of.

Sierra Anderson hit one of two free throws, then drained a jumper that made it 55-52 with three minutes left. Keast hit her third 3-pointer of the game to tie it at 55 with 2:16 remaining, which set up the late-game dramatics.

Leidel hit one of two from the line to put UMass back in front. Harrington missed with a chance to give Montana the lead, but Isaak was there for the offensive rebound, one of 22 the Lady Griz in the game. The ball found its way to Goligoski. Her jumper made it 57-56 with 1:10 left.

Both teams traded misses, which gave the ball back to the Minutewomen with less than 30 seconds to play. Maggie Mulligan, UMass's 6-foot-2 center who finished with 24 points and 15 rebounds, had a chance to give her team the lead with 15 seconds left, but Harrington came through with a block.

Goligoski collected the defensive rebound, Johnston was fouled. She hit the first, missed the second.

Having already used their final timeout, the Lady Griz were unable to huddle in the final moments to discuss time and situation. They had two fouls to give, which could have altered their strategy on Massachusetts' final possession. And they stayed in a zone.

"It would have been nice to have a little more time to talk about the situation a little more," said Schweyen. "(Leidel) kind of looped up top, and that's an action we haven't talked about with this young group.

"We haven't played a lot of zone this year, and (Leidel) got an open one unfortunately. Credit her for knocking it down."

Despite her late missed free throw and 0-for-7 shooting, Johnston was part of a bench effort that gave Montana an opportunity to win. The team's reserves scored 32 of Montana's points.

"McKenzie is showing to be a good leader out there," said Schweyen. "She got us organized tonight and did what we asked of her."

Keast had a similar impact. Playing a career-high 17 minutes, she went 3 for 4 from 3-point range. Five of her career-high nine rebounds came on the offensive end. Montana's 22 offensive rebounds led to an 18-0 advantage in second-chance points.

"I talked to Maddie before the game and told her I was going to get her (time) at the four today," said Schweyen.

"We needed to find ways to get somebody in there who's going to post up tough and wants to get the ball inside. Maddie answered. I was really excited for her."

Montana held Massachusetts to 23 second-half points, finished with a 49-44 rebounding advantage and turned the ball over just seven times, 10 fewer than Saturday and a season low.

But an early deficit and Leidel's buzzer-beating dagger added up to a tough one-point loss.

"It would have been nice to get this one to make the trip home a little better," said Schweyen. "But like I told the girls, every game is a learning experience for us. As long as we take something away from this, it will be good."

The annual Lady Griz Classic opens on Wednesday when Montana hosts Incarnate Word (0-2) at Dahlberg Arena at 7 p.m.

The Cardinals will face Utah State (3-0) at 2 p.m. on Friday. Montana and Utah State will wrap up the tournament with a 2 p.m. game next Sunday.