Lady Griz get their shot at ranked Bulldogs

The Montana women's basketball team, with just two games played as the season approaches mid-December, will face No. 25 Gonzaga on Sunday afternoon in Spokane.

The Lady Griz (1-1) and Bulldogs (2-2) will tip off at 3 p.m. (MT) inside the McCarthey Athletic Center.

Coverage: Sunday's game will air on SWX, with Rob Jesselson (play-by-play), Stephanie Hawk-Freeman (analyst) and Joe McHale (sideline) calling the action. The game will stream on the WCC Network.

Hawk-Freeman was the 2007 West Coast Conference co-Player of the Year for Gonzaga.

A Montana-flavored broadcast, with first-year Voice of the Lady Griz Shawn Tiemann, can be heard on KMPT (99.7 FM/930 AM) or 930kmpt.com.

Summary: Even with two early-season losses, one fewer than it had in 31 games last season, Gonzaga has remained in both national polls with good reason.

The Bulldogs lost by seven to then-No. 1 South Carolina in Sioux Falls, S.D., then defeated South Dakota on a somewhat neutral floor a day later, 54-50, a team Montana lost to by 32 points last season.

Gonzaga returned to the Mount Rushmore State last weekend and played an epic game against South Dakota State on the Jackrabbits' home floor, falling 75-72 in overtime.

When last season ended, the three teams Gonzaga opened the season with had records of 85-13. All were destined to play in the NCAA tournament.

On Tuesday, Gonzaga shot 55 percent and won 89-50 at Wyoming against a team picked fifth in a strong Mountain West Conference.

Senior guard Jill Townsend, the reigning West Coast Conference Player of the Year, is one of three starters and 12 letterwinners back for a team that won its 16th WCC regular-season title last season.

Did we mention Gonzaga is 214-27 at home since the McCarthey Athletic Center opened in 2004? So, yes, the Lady Griz face a stiff challenge on Sunday.

"They are experienced, skilled, deep. They picked up right where they left off," said first-year Lady Griz coach Mike Petrino, whose team will be trying to defeat a ranked opponent for the first time since 2004.

"They are very well coached and experienced, and deep on the perimeter and inside."

He'll take a team to Spokane that is 1-1 and had a pair of home games against Southern Utah called off because of COVID-19 issues within the Thunderbird program.

Montana opened the season with an 81-74 setback at Utah State before collecting win No. 1 at home against North Dakota on Monday afternoon, 86-72.

Through two games, redshirt sophomore Carmen Gfeller, who grew up 60 miles from Spokane in Colfax, Wash., is averaging 23.5 points on 63.3 percent shooting.

"If you have good spacing, good ball movement and good player movement, the game will give you options," said Petrino. "And Carmen is being very efficient with those options.

"She has a lot of confidence and respect from her teammates, and she's making good decisions with it. She is taking advantage of the offense coming to her and capitalizing on it and producing. She is playing very efficiently."

The matchup:

* Montana leads the series 17-14, but Gonzaga has had the upper hand the last two decades, winning seven straight over the Lady Griz and 12 of the last 15.

* Gonzaga has won four straight over Montana in Spokane and is 9-7 against the Lady Griz at home.

* Montana has won just once in Spokane since 1995, going 1-8. That lone win came in December 2005, 72-60, when the Lady Griz became the first visiting men's or women's team to win at the McCarthey Athletic Center after Gonzaga's two basketball teams had opened the facility with 32 straight wins.

* The teams' last five meetings, all one-sided Gonzaga victories, have been decided by an average of 20 points per game.

* Montana's last win in the series came in Missoula, an 88-78 victory during the 2006-07 season.

* The Lady Griz are 12-47 all-time against ranked opponents, with 13 straight losses. The last win over a ranked team was a 61-58 home victory over No. 24 Utah in January 2004. The last road victory over a ranked opponent was a 67-65 win at No. 14 Western Kentucky in December 1995.

* Montana's last game against a ranked opponent was a 96-64 loss at No. 21 South Dakota last December in Vermillion.

* Sunday will be the first time Montana has played Gonzaga when the Bulldogs are ranked. They are No. 25 in both the AP and USA Today/WBCA Coaches polls.

* The teams have met just once when Montana was ranked. The Bulldogs won 70-62 over the Lady Griz in Spokane in January 1994 when Montana was 9-1, its only loss on the road at No. 1 Tennessee, and ranked No. 20.

* Montana is 0-2 against Gonzaga since Lisa Fortier took over for Kelly Graves prior to the 2014-15 season, losing 70-55 in Missoula in 2017-18 and 76-52 in Spokane in 2018-19.

Montana notes:

* With 21 points against Utah State and 26 against North Dakota, Carmen Gfeller became just the second Lady Griz player since 1980-81 to open the season with back-to-back 20-point scoring games.

* The only other player to do it was Anita Novak, who scored 21 points against both Washington State and Great Falls to open the 1984-85 season.

* Since 1980-81, no Lady Griz player has scored more points through the first two games of the season than Gfeller did by totaling 47 against Utah State and North Dakota.

* The previous best were the 44 points scored by Shannon Cate in 1991-92. She put up 19 against Providence and 25 against Hawaii at the latter's tournament.

* Montana scored 74 and 86 points in its first two games. The last time the Lady Griz scored 74 or more points in its first two games of the season came in 2006-07.

* Despite injuries, Montana has started the same lineup through two games: Sophia Stiles, Hannah Thurmon, Madi Schoening, Carmen Gfeller and Abby Anderson.

* Carmen Gfeller has missed just 12 shots through two games, between the field and free throw line. She is shooting 63.3 percent (19 for 30) from the floor, 8 for 9 (.889) from the line.

* Sophia Stiles had her first career double-double against North Dakota with 22 points and a career-high 12 rebounds from her point-guard spot. She also picked off a career-high five steals.

* Stiles has 11 assists and just three turnovers through two games. Her backup at the point, freshman Kyndall Keller, has five assists and no turnovers.

* As a team, Montana has 38 assists against 29 turnovers. In the early going, that 1.31 assist-to-turnover ratio is tied for 30th nationally. (Gonzaga ranks 21st at 1.41.)

* Also in the early going, Gfeller ranks 24th nationally in scoring at 23.5 points per game and leads the Big Sky.

* Junior Hannah Thurmon, who played two years at Three Rivers College in Missouri, was recruited for her 3-point shooting. Through two games she is 4 for 9 (.444).

* After getting out-rebounded by nine by Utah State, Montana out-rebounded North Dakota by 10 on Monday, 44-34.

* Montana shot 47.6 percent against North Dakota, a total reached just six times last season against Division I opponents.

* Doubtful to play leading up to the game, Abby Anderson not only started, she finished with 13 points, four rebounds, four blocks, three assists and two steals.

* Madi Schoening took just three shots in 27 minutes against North Dakota, but she was still highly productive. She finished with nine points and nine rebounds, five on the offensive end. She also had three assists without turning the ball over and added a blocked shot.

* When Jordyn Schweyen connected on a 3-pointer in the third quarter against North Dakota, it was her first points since March 11, 2019. She redshirted last season and missed Montana's opener at Utah State.

* Through two games, Stiles has nine steals. The last five seasons, the Montana leader in that category has averaged just 38.2 for the season.

* Montana averaged 1.23 points per possession against North Dakota, a total reached just twice last season against Division I opponents.

Gonzaga notes:

* The Bulldogs went 28-3 last season. They lost to Portland, 70-69, in the semifinals of the West Coast Conference tournament in Las Vegas but would have received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament had it been held.

* Gonzaga has won 24 or more games 13 of the last 14 years. The Bulldogs have won or shared the West Coast regular-season title 15 of the last 16 years.

* Last season would have been Gonzaga's 12th trip to the NCAA tournament in the last 14 years.

* Gonzaga was picked atop the WCC preseason coaches' poll for the eighth straight year, collecting seven of 10 first-place votes. BYU (2) and Portland (1) also collected first-place votes while finishing second and third in the poll.

* Townsend, last year's WCC Player of the Year, was one of 50 players last month to be named to the Naismith Trophy Watch List for national player of the year.

* Townsend and 6-foot-3 senior forward Jenn Wirth, who was first-team All-WCC last season, made the 11-player preseason All-WCC team.

* Gonzaga's third returning starter is 6-foot-3 senior forward LeeAnne Wirth.

* Through four games, Townsend is averaging 17.0 points on 53.2 percent shooting. She had 29 at South Dakota State. Jenn Wirth is averaging 11.3 points on 59.4 percent shooting and 7.5 rebounds.

* Redshirt senior Cierra Walker, in her lone season of eligibility after transferring from Vanderbilt, is averaging 9.3 points and has a team-high 10 3-pointers.

* Gonzaga starts four seniors (Townsend, the Wirths and Walker) and sophomore Kayleigh Truong.

* In Tuesday's 39-point win at Wyoming, Gonzaga went 12 for 20 from the arc and out-rebounded the Cowgirls 44-19. The Bulldogs only allowed four offensive rebounds.

Around the Big Sky Conference:

* Every team in the Big Sky has played at least two games, outside of Portland State, which is still waiting to play its opener. The Vikings are scheduled to play at Dixie State on Dec. 16 before opening its Big Sky schedule at Weber State.

* Idaho State picked up the Big Sky's best win of the early season, winning 65-50 at Kansas State on Tuesday afternoon. That win looks even better after the Wildcats defeated a ranked South Dakota State team on Thursday, 62-53.

* Idaho sits atop the Big Sky with Northern Arizona. Both have a 2-0 record in league.

* The Vandals had a chance to face a ranked opponent when they played at Texas on Wednesday. Idaho trailed 46-14 at the half on its way to losing 73-48.

* Northern Colorado and Idaho State open league on Monday and Wednesday when the Bengals host the Bears in Pocatello.

* Portland State and Weber State play their first league games next week as well when the Vikings travel to Ogden.

Upcoming: Montana will play at Seattle at 3 p.m. (MT) on Tuesday. The Redhawks, who won 75-72 in overtime at home over Utah State earlier this month, is 2-3 after Thursday's 106-39 home victory over Northwest University.

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Players Mentioned

Abby Anderson

Carmen Gfeller

Kyndall Keller

Madi Schoening

Jordyn Schweyen

Sophia Stiles

Hannah Thurmon

University of Montana Athletics