The Lady Griz strike back

Thursday, January 30

Missoula, Mont.

7 PM

Montana

11-8, 6-4BSC

Portland State

12-9, 6-5BSC

Portland State

Montana

1/30/2020 10:25:00 PM | Women's Basketball

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By: Montana Sports Information

It was the gut-check moment of the season for the Lady Griz on Thursday night at Dahlberg Arena, after Portland State had turned a 15-point deficit in the third quarter into a one-point lead in the fourth.

Thanks to a pair of steely seniors, Montana came through just fine, winning 62-55, its second victory in a row to improve its Big Sky Conference record to 6-4 and move past the Vikings into fourth place.

Montana jumped out to a 19-5 lead in the first quarter and led 35-22 at the half. The lead was 15, 41-26, with seven minutes left in the third when Portland State started what would become a 20-4 run.

The Vikings would take their first lead since the opening minute of the game when Desirae Hansen hit a jumper in the paint 75 seconds into the fourth quarter, putting PSU up 46-45.

It felt like it had the potential to be a defining moment for Montana. And up stepped Taylor Goligoski.

Her 3-pointer put the Lady Griz back in front, and they would remain there thanks to Goligoski and McKenzie Johnston. The two would score 14 of their team's 17 fourth-quarter points.

"You always hope your seniors are going to play like that," said coach Shannon Schweyen. "I'm proud of the way we kept battling. Every time they made a run, we answered with something.

"I'm proud of the ladies. It was good to come out of here with a win."

The game almost mirrored the teams' contest at Portland State earlier this month, with the home team getting out to an early lead, then holding off a spirited comeback attempt by the visitors.

Montana would go 8 for 14 in the first quarter, getting open looks at will against Portland State's zone.

"Everybody played well from the get-go, and it was kind of fun," said Schweyen. "It's fun when everyone's hitting and doing nice things.

"We had a ton of assists at halftime. I love the way this team can share the ball."

Another senior, Emma Stockholm, had 12 points and eight rebounds in the first half as the Lady Griz took a 13-point lead into the break. "Emma had a great first half," said Schweyen, "a fabulous first half."

But the lead was built as much on the defensive end as it was on the offensive.

In the teams' first matchup, a 78-65 Vikings victory, Portland State shot 45 percent or better both halves and finished at 46.9 percent for the game. PSU went 8 for 26 (.308) in the first half on Thursday.

"We did a much better job defensively to adjust to the things they were running," said Schweyen. "We were half asleep the first half when we played them down there. We had good intensity from the start."

With Montana leading 41-26 early in the third quarter, Portland State scored five straight points, including a 3-pointer by Belle Frazier.

The game remained 41-31 for more than three minutes, as the teams traded missed shots. Finally PSU point guard Kylie Jimenez broke the drought and the Vikings woke up.

They hit a pair of 3-pointers in the final minute of the third quarter to make it 45-41 at the break, then opened the fourth with a Jimenez triple and Hansen's jumper.

"It can go dry quickly. We had a stretch when we had a hard time scoring, and they started making threes," said Schweyen. "We left people too much and started going under screens, and that hurt us."

Just like that, Portland State led. And the big moment had arrived.

Montana went 3 for 13 in the third quarter and had missed its first shot of the fourth when Goligoski got the ball on the left wing. Her 3-pointer was true.

She hit another one less than two minutes later to make it 54-49. A Johnston jumper in the paint 30 seconds later pushed the lead back to seven, 56-49.

Another dry spell, this one lasting more than three minutes, allowed Hansen and Jimenez to bury 3-pointers and make it 56-55 as the clock approached two minutes.

The winning play? Johnston for a layup off a high-post pass from Abby Anderson to make it 58-55. It was one of Anderson's team-high four assists on a night when Montana had 18 on its 23 made baskets.

"Abby is just a very good passer. She sees things well and has a nice, high angle to hit people when she's up there," said Schweyen. "We love having Abby out there. She makes everyone around her better."

Montana had to withstand a missed three by Jimenez, then another open triple from the same player with 59 seconds left.

Goligoski put her stamp on the win with a runner in the lane over Jordan Stotler, the Big Sky leader in blocked shots, with 32 seconds left. It put Montana on solid footing, 60-55.

"The threes that Taylor hit, then the running teardrop over Stotler were huge plays," said Schweyen. "At some point we were going to have to hit some threes. Taylor came in and hit some big ones."

Johnston would finish with a game-high 14 points, Stockholm with her fourth career double-double: 13 points, 11 rebounds. Goligoski's eight points all came in the fourth quarter, when she went 3 for 4.

Stotler and Tatiana Streun, who combined for 42 points in the first meeting on 15-of-23 shooting, had less than half that on Thursday, scoring 20.

Montana (11-8, 6-4 BSC) will host Big Sky-leading Montana State (12-6, 8-1 BSC) on Saturday at 2 p.m. as the Lady Griz' four-game home stand comes to an end. The Bobcats did not play on Thursday.