Lady Griz head to Phoenix

The Montana women's basketball team, off to its best four-game start since the 2015-16 season, will travel to Phoenix this week for the Grand Canyon Women's Basketball Classic.

Montana (3-1) will face Houston Baptist (3-2) at noon on Friday at GCU Arena, Nicholls State (2-3) at noon on Saturday.

Host Grand Canyon will play Nicholls State at 2 p.m. on Friday, Houston Baptist at 2 p.m. on Saturday.

Both games will be available in the Missoula area on KMPT (99.7 FM/930 AM), with Paul Yarbrough on the call. The games can be heard online at 930kmpt.com.

After returning home, Montana will play five straight home games leading up to Christmas, including its Big Sky Conference openers against Sacramento State and Northern Colorado next week.

The Lady Griz also will host Utah Valley, Seattle and Utah State next month.

At a glance (Montana): The Lady Griz swept the North Dakota-North Dakota State road trip last week, winning 72-51 in Grand Forks on Thursday, 65-63 in Fargo on Saturday.

In its win over the Fighting Hawks, Montana led 33-29 at the half before outscoring UND 39-22 over the final 20 minutes on 47.2 percent shooting.

Sammy Fatkin erupted for a career-high 25 points while adding six rebounds, four assists and three steals.

Carmen Gfeller grabbed 10 rebounds, Haley Huard and Dani Bartsch combined for 19 points off the bench on 8-of-10 shooting.

Two days later, the Lady Griz found themselves trailing the Bison by 10 at the half, 34-24. Montana would go 16 for 29 (.552) in the second half and win it on a Gfeller basket with 1.6 seconds left.

Gfeller, named the Big Sky Player of the Week on Tuesday, had 18 points and 10 rebounds. Fatkin added 12 points, nine of which came in the fourth quarter as the Lady Griz rallied for the victory.

Montana is off to its best four-game start since the 2015-16 team opened the season 3-1 as well.

At a glance (Houston Baptist): The Huskies will enter the Women's Basketball Classic with a 3-2 record after losing 76-58 at New Mexico on Tuesday night.

HBU opened its season with a 78-48 loss on the road at TCU, then won three straight home games over St. Thomas (Texas), Texas Wesleyan and Hartford.

Against the Lobos on Tuesday, the Huskies fell behind 16-0 and trailed 23-2 at the end of the first quarter, 43-16 at halftime.

Houston Baptist went 11-11 last season and was picked second behind Southeastern Louisiana in the Southland Conference preseason poll, collecting one first-place vote.

Junior guard Timia Jefferson was one of five league players voted first-team preseason all-conference. Sophomore guard Kennedy Wilson was voted second team.

Jefferson was named the Southland Conference Player of the Week on Monday after scoring 14 and 23 points in home wins last week over Texas Wesleyan and Hartford. For the season she is averaging 15.5 points.

At a glance (Nicholls State): The Colonels are 2-3, their wins against NAIA Tougaloo and NCAA Division II Spring Hill.

Nicholls is 0-3 against Division I opponents, losing 82-40 at LSU, 75-59 at Jackson State and 77-48 at Louisiana Tech.

The Colonels went 11-14 last season and were picked fourth in the preseason Southland poll, collecting one first-place vote.

Junior forward Chelsea Cain was named to the five-player first-team preseason All-Southland squad. Senior guard Chyna Allen was voted second team.

Nicholls State is shooting 34.9 percent as a team through five games. None of the team's five starters is shooting better than 39 percent on the season.

Series history: The Women's Basketball Classic will be Montana's first games against Houston Baptist and Nicholls State.

The Lady Griz are no strangers to playing in Arizona, not with Northern Arizona as a league opponent, but Montana has played just once previously in the city of Phoenix.

Montana won 69-47 at Grand Canyon early in the 2018-19 season, a bounce-back win after opening that road trip with a 100-51 loss at Arizona in Tucson two days earlier.

Summary:

Montana improved to 3-1 last week with a road sweep of former Big Sky foe North Dakota and North Dakota State, the team picked third in the preseason Summit League poll.

The Lady Griz outscored the Fighting Hawks and Bison 80-51 in the second half in the two games on 50.8 percent shooting.

"We had a theme on the road. Tougher, execute better and be more together. They were more resilient than I thought they'd be, especially in the second game," said first-year coach Brian Holsinger.

In Thursday's 21-point road win, Montana's largest margin of victory on the road since winning 78-46 at Weber State in 2019-20, the Lady Griz led by four at the break before pulling away in the second half.

"I was super proud of them in the first game. We played okay in the first half. They came out in the second half and really pushed the pace and did what we wanted," said Holsinger.

Two days later, Montana looked out of sorts against an NDSU team that surprised the Lady Griz by playing zone. Montana shot 39.3 percent in the first half and had 10 turnovers.

After a chance to regroup at halftime, the Lady Griz, down 34-24 at the break, went 16 for 29 in the second half with six turnovers.

Montana scored the first eight points of the second half and finally took the lead early in the fourth quarter on a 3-pointer by Gfeller.

The tight fourth quarter would have four ties, seven lead changes. Gfeller broke the final tie when she hit the game-winner with 1.6 seconds left.

"You hope you've taught them the right things and that you've prepared them where (being down 10 at the half) doesn't faze them," said Holsinger, "but you don't really know until you're in that situation.

"To see them come out in the second half and say, we're going to execute, we're going to do the right things, I was very impressed with how resilient they were in that second game."

Gfeller was named Big Sky Player of the Week on Tuesday after averaging 13 points on 70.6 percent shooting and 10 rebounds in the two wins.

One of the unsung heroes of the road trip was freshman Dani Bartsch, who total 15 points on 7-of-10 shooting, 15 rebounds and six assists in the sweep in just 30 minutes of court time.

"She was awesome against North Dakota State," said Holsinger. "Anytime you play against a zone, the high post is an important position. They have to make plays and kind of be the point guard.

"Dani was just calm, cool and collected and made unbelievable plays for a kid who hasn't played that much."

Bartsch's efficiency rating is among the best on the team. Prorated to 40 minutes per game, Bartsch would be averaging 16.9 points, 16.1 rebounds and 7.6 assists.

Her rebounding and assist average, per 40 minutes, would be the best on the team. Her scoring average would rank third behind Fatkin (22.5/g) and fellow freshman Haley Huard (18.4/g).

"I'm pleasantly surprised with how well she's doing," said Holsinger. "She has good instincts and she has a gigantic desire to be good.

"She believes in herself. She gets mad at herself when she doesn't do well, but she doesn't doubt herself. I'm really proud of her. She is going to be a great player here."

Montana's 3-1 record has just the one misstep, a 67-60 home loss to Gonzaga, a result that looks better and better by the day.

Gonzaga opened the season with a 25-point win over Montana State, the team picked second in the Big Sky preseason polls.

Four days after winning in Missoula, the Bulldogs hosted Big Sky preseason favorite Idaho State and won by 30, 69-39. The lead after the first quarter: 23-4.

On Sunday, Gonzaga lost at home to defending national champion Stanford, 66-62. The Bulldogs led 23-13 after one, 35-32 at the half.

Trailing 64-62 in the final seconds, Gonzaga missed a potential game-winning 3-pointer.

"(Gonzaga's) wins against other teams in the (Big Sky) and their game against Stanford shows we're maybe better than we think," said Holsinger.

Montana trailed 36-28 at the half against Gonzaga after a less-than-ideal close to the second quarter and could never get closer than five points in the second half.

The Lady Griz outshot the Bulldogs and committed a season-low 11 turnovers.

"I am proud of the fight we showed in that game. We're building an identity as a program. The idea is to be tough and defensive-oriented," said Holsinger.

"I think that game shows that, especially now that you see what they've done against other teams. It was a fight and our kids didn't back down. It's encouraging."

Now Montana heads to a mostly unfamiliar location and venue * to face two teams, on back-to-back days, that the Lady Griz have never played before.

(*Abby Anderson, Kylie Frohlich and Carmen Gfeller all played at GCU Arena when Montana won 69-47 at Grand Canyon on Dec. 7, 2018.)

"It's a good opportunity to play against different types of teams, different styles," said Holsinger. "We'll go down and do what we do, but you have to be able to adjust.

"It's back-to-back games, so your bench will come into play. It will be a good opportunity to see how we do when we don't have a whole day to prepare for the next team."

The team's pre-Christmas December schedule couldn't be any more fan-friendly.

Home games next week against Sacramento State and Northern Colorado, then a steady schedule of games against Utah Valley, Seattle and Utah State.

"It will be an opportunity for people to be able to see our team, and I encourage everybody to come out and watch," said Holsinger.

"This is an awesome group of girls who are fighting for each other, who are learning to play really good basketball, and who doesn't like that?

"Who doesn't like to see teams that are teams? That's what has made the Lady Griz special for many years. I think we're headed in that direction."

Montana notes:

* You have to go back to the 2008-09 season to find the last time Montana won its first two games of the season away from Missoula.

* Montana has gone just 2-10 in neutral-site games the last five seasons.

* When Carmen Gfeller was named the Big Sky Player of the Week on Tuesday, it marked the first time a Lady Griz was so honored since Abby Anderson in December 2019.

* Gfeller has shot 4 for 7, 7 for 10, 4 for 6 and 8 for 11 in four games this season. Her field goal percentage of .676 ranks 14th nationally (as of Wednesday).

* Gfeller leads the Big Sky in rebounding (9.5/g) and ranks second in field goal percentage. … Sammy Fatkin ranks fifth in the Big Sky in scoring (17.3/g).

* Montana leads the Big Sky in both field goal percentage (.467) and field goal percentage defense (.313).

* Montana has a memorable history of facing teams from Louisiana, which is where Nicholls State is located (Thibodaux).

* Montana lost 81-77 to Louisiana Tech in the opening round of the 2004 NCAA Tournament in front of a crowd of 7,413 in Missoula.

* Montana's first of its 21 NCAA Tournament appearances was a trip to Louisiana-Monroe in March 1983. The Lady Griz lost 72-53. The night before the game, the team's hotel caught on fire.

* Montana has shot better than 42 percent in each of its first four games and has had a better shooting percentage than its opponent all four games.

* Abby Anderson fouled out against North Dakota State after playing just 14 minutes. It was only the third time in her career she has fouled out of a game.

* Montana won at North Dakota State despite getting just one point from Anderson. It was her lowest scoring output since being held scoreless by Utah Valley in December 2019.

* Sophia Stiles is shooting 17 for 29 (.586) from inside the 3-point arc.

* Sammy Fatkin has scoring games this season of 19, 13, 25 and 12 points. The last time a Lady Griz opened a season with four consecutive double-figure scoring games: McKenzie Johnston in 2019-20.

* Dani Bartsch has opened her career with nine assists against just two turnovers. … Bartsch approached her first career double-double at North Dakota with nine points and nine rebounds.

* Montana has shot 47.4 percent in two home games this season, 46.0 percent in two road games. … The Lady Griz were +16 on the boards in two games on the road last week.

* Montana's four opponents have gone 39 for 46 (.848) from the line this season. … Montana's 41 second-half points at North Dakota State was its highest-scoring half of the season against a Division I opponent.

Around the Big Sky Conference:

* Montana and Portland State sit atop the Big Sky standings at 3-1. Montana's lone loss was by seven at home to Gonzaga. PSU's was a three-point loss on the road at Hawaii.

* Weber State, at 2-2, is the only other team with a record of at least .500. The Wildcats have home wins over North Dakota and Omaha to match last year's win total, when WSU went 2-20.

* None of the Big Sky's top five scorers was playing in the league last season.

* Sacramento State's Lianna Tillman (22.6/g) was playing at Pacific, Portland State's Esmeralda Morales (20.5/g) and Eastern Washington's Jaydia Martin (17.8/g) were seniors in high school, Idaho's Louise Forsyth (17.5/g) was playing at Gonzaga and Montana's Sammy Fatkin (17.3/g) was sitting out.

* The Big Sky's best win last week was Northern Arizona's 84-62 home victory over UNLV, which is 3-1 and has an 80-42 win over Montana State and a 92-59 win over Southern Utah.

* The top three teams in the Big Sky preseason polls – Idaho State, Montana State, Idaho – are 0-9 against Division I opponents.

* The league schedule opens next week for all 11 teams.

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Players Mentioned

Abby Anderson

Dani Bartsch

Sammy Fatkin

Kylie Frohlich

Carmen Gfeller

Haley Huard

McKenzie Johnston

Sophia Stiles

University of Montana Athletics