Gfeller named Preseason All-Big Sky

Montana junior forward Carmen Gfeller has been named to the six-player Preseason All-Big Sky Conference women's basketball team, the league announced on Thursday.

Gfeller, who led the Lady Griz in scoring (14.3/g) last season while shooting a Big Sky-best 52.9 percent, was voted third-team All-Big Sky last winter as a sophomore.

Idaho's Beyonce Bea, first-team All-Big Sky last season, was voted the preseason MVP for a Vandals team that was picked third in both the coaches' and media preseason polls.

Heavy favorite Idaho State placed two players on the preseason team. Dora Goles was first-team last season, Diaba Konate second-team.

They highlight a loaded, veteran Bengals squad that went 22-4 last season and rolled to the Big Sky tournament championship, winning its three games in Boise by an average of more than 20 points.

Rounding out the preseason team are Montana State's Darian White and Northern Arizona's Khiarica Rasheed.

White was a first-team All-Big Sky selection last season. Rasheed was first-team in 2019-20, third-team last season.

Montana State was picked second in both preseason polls, Northern Arizona, which has five starters back, fourth in the coaches' poll, one spot ahead of fifth-place Montana.

Gfeller is one of three returning starters for Montana and first-year coach Brian Holsinger.

The Colfax, Wash., native played sparingly as a true freshman in 2018-19, then redshirted in 2019-20.

She opened her redshirt sophomore year with 21 points at Utah State last November, then topped that with 26 a week later against North Dakota.

She scored in double figures in 17 of 23 games, six times scoring more than 20, including three straight games in January when she shot 25 for 34 (.735).

She would shoot 52.9 percent for the season, the eighth-best performance in program history, and go 63 for 72 (.875) from the free-throw line.

"Carmen is going to be a major factor for us, no question," said Holsinger. "Offensively she is very talented.

"She's so good inside the paint and within 15 feet, and she's been really consistent from three."

Gfeller led the Lady Griz, who went 12-11 last season and finished sixth in the Big Sky at 9-8, in both scoring and field goal percentage last winter, but she did not lead the team in shot attempts.

"After watching video from last year, there were numerous times she could have taken more shots," said Holsinger. "Some of that's on her, some of that will be on us.

"Some of that had to do with being double-teamed. Those are things we have to fix so she can have one-on-one opportunities within 15 feet. We'll get her more shots."

Montana will play its lone exhibition game on Friday, Nov. 5, against Rocky Mountain, then open the regular season when it hosts Northwest Nazarene at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 9.

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