Bulldogs hold on, win 67-60

Sunday, November 14

Missoula, Mont.

2 PM

Montana

1-1

Gonzaga

2-0

Gonzaga

Montana

Photo by: Tommy Martino/UM Athletics

11/14/2021 6:59:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Photo Gallery

By: Montana Sports Information

In the end, after 40 minutes of intense basketball in front of a raucous crowd, Montana's coming-of-age moment was postponed by Gonzaga's size and been-there, seen-that experience.

The Bulldogs, sitting just outside the top 25 in the preseason national poll, used a strong close to the second quarter and held the lead the rest of the way, fighting off every second-half comeback attempt by the Lady Griz.

It was enough for Gonzaga to leave Dahlberg Arena with a 67-60 win on Sunday afternoon in Missoula, but not before the Lady Griz gave their nearly 3,000 fans in attendance a glimpse of what's to come.

"We're not even close to where we're going to be, but you can't replace the fight that we had. I'm proud of our fight," said first-year coach Brian Holsinger.

"We're growing. We're growing and growing. We're going to execute way better and be more efficient. When we do that, we'll be able to beat good teams."

Montana got the start it wanted, jumping out to a 6-2 lead to draw the crowd into the game from the opening minutes, but it was two fouls on Abby Anderson in the first quarter that most impacted the first half.

With Montana's primary interior presence on the bench for more than 16 minutes of the first half, Gonzaga's size won the day, as it tends to do in basketball.

The Bulldogs grabbed 13 first-half offensive rebounds, five by Yvonne Ejim, and at the half had more offensive rebounds than Montana had total rebounds (12).

For all the fight Montana showed, it just needed a few more inches on Sunday.

"Size is the biggest difference, right? Let's be honest. I think if Abby plays in the first half, the rebounding situation is a different deal," said Holsinger, who got good minutes from Dani Bartsch off the bench.

"You have a freshman out there and you have Kylie (Frohich), who's practiced three times in three weeks. She's not quite ready yet. But I'm proud of the kids who came off the bench in the first half."

Behind 10 combined points from Carmen Gfeller and Sammy Fatkin in the first quarter, Montana trailed just 15-14 at the first break.

With Anderson sitting the entirety of the second quarter, that's when the game was, if not decided, then put on the path toward its eventual outcome.

Gonzaga grabbed nine offensive rebounds in the second quarter alone, extra possession time that creates more looks and wears out the defensive team.

The Bulldogs, who took 20 shots in the second quarter to Montana's 11, grabbed the lead for good midway through the period and pulled off a stomach-punch finish to the first half.

Part of it was self-inflicted by the Lady Griz, who had the ball, down five and the shot clock off.

But the crowd was roaring and Katerina Tsineke was feeling it and she drove and dished to Nyah Morris-Nelson for an open corner three with 11 seconds left.

Had it gone in, all would have been forgiven. It looked good but it rimmed out. Montana grabbed the offensive rebound and took another shot, this time with seven seconds left. It missed.

Gonzaga thanked Montana for the gift of one more possession, raced to the other end and drilled a 3-pointer at the buzzer. What could have been two or three at the half was an eight-point deficit.

The crowd, urging on the home team, drowned out the voice of Holsinger, who was imploring his team to slow the possession down and take the half's final shot. Nobody heard him.

"The crowd's a blessing, don't get me wrong, but in that situation they couldn't hear anything," he said of his players. "We're all screaming, one shot, one shot! It just the experience of doing the right things.

"We like to have the last shot. Those are things you need to practice and experience."

Gonzaga led 36-28 at the half, despite Montana shooting a better percentage and turning it over fewer times. Size will do that. It will cover up what might otherwise be shortcomings.

"We knew (their size) was going to be the (story of the game). They are big and strong and fast and physical, and you can't replicate that. We're not used to that physicality," said Holsinger.

Nothing Montana would do in the second half would bridge the gap. The 3-point shot would have helped, but the Lady Griz went 1 for 10 from the arc for the game.

Lost in that statistic, which would suggest that Montana was just plain cold, is that a team like Gonzaga forces its opponents to take the open looks it gets just a bit quicker than normal just to get off a clean shot.

Football has its quarterback hurries. Basketball has the same thing without the statistic.

"Those misses happen because their length and speed are different, so you're getting challenged differently," said Holsinger. "That's an adjustment."

Montana would pull within six on two occasions in the third quarter, six again two more times in the fourth.

The Lady Griz even had possession, down five, with just under a minute left, but a rush to the rim led to an offensive foul. And that was it.

"We were right there at the end of it. Whatever I said at halftime, I have to remember what I said, because we rebounded the ball a lot better in the second half," said Holsinger.

"We didn't do a great job of executing our offense in the fourth quarter. Part of that has to do with being tired, some of that is on me. I have to do a better job. We need to know where we're going."

Gfeller would lead both teams with 19 points on 7-of-10 shooting. Fatkin added 13 points on 6-of-11 shooting, and Sophia Stiles had 10 points, five rebounds and four assists before fouling out.

Through two games, Gfeller is now averaging 15 points on 64.7 percent shooting and nine rebounds.

"She's a warrior and getting tougher by the second. I'm proud of her," said Holsinger. "There are some really good, positive things to be happy with today."

Those fans? They went home a bit disappointed but certainly encouraged. They'll be back. They are savvy enough – and loyal, always loyal -- to know what Holsinger knows, that this team's time is coming.

"Griz Nation is special. That's why I wanted to be here. There is a history of success, and that's why they show up. We want to go out and make them want to come back," he said.

Even in defeat, the Lady Griz managed to pull that off on Sunday.