Lady Griz hold off Bears, win by four

Friday, November 5

Missoula, Mont.

7 PM

Montana

Rocky Mountain (exh)

Rocky Mountain

Montana

Photo by: Derek Johnson

11/5/2021 10:24:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Photo Gallery

By: Montana Sports Information

You, the fan in the stands, may have preferred something a little more comfortable than Montana's 60-56 win over Rocky Mountain on Friday night at Dahlberg Arena in Missoula in the team's lone exhibition game before opening the regular season on Tuesday.

But for first-year Lady Griz coach Brian Holsinger, there was a lot to be gained from the struggle, from being tested in early November, no matter the name of the opponent.

"We will learn a ton from this game. It was exactly what we needed and exactly what we wanted. This is why you play exhibitions. And we won, so it's good," he said.

Montana trailed for just 23 seconds but also never led by more than 14 points. It was 29-22 at the half and 48-35 after three quarters before the Battlin' Bears outscored the Lady Griz 21-12 in the fourth quarter and pulled within four, 56-52, with more than four minutes remaining.

The unexpected tenseness of the fourth quarter did a good job of masking how valuable the experience was.

Montana didn't make a basket over the final 5:16 but did enough at the defensive end and at the free throw line to hold on, scenarios that will be more beneficial to a growing team than playing out the final minutes while leading by 20.

"Credit to Rocky. They battled their butts off. (Coach Wes Keller) does a good job with them," said Holsinger.

Carmen Gfeller led Montana with 16 points, Abby Anderson added a 12-point, 10-rebound double-double and five blocks, and Kyndall Keller went 2 for 3 from 3-point range to score 10 points off the bench.

The numbers that really stick out were the minutes played. Anderson was on the court for more than 38, Gfeller and Sophia Stiles more than 34, Katerina Tsineke more than 31. Keller played nearly 28 minutes off the bench.

Those are end-of-season minutes, when you go all in on your top players and ride them to wins, which is all that matters at that time of year. Now is about development, and Montana couldn't do it because of various ailments.

Sammy Fatkin and Kylie Frohlich didn't play, and Nyah Morris-Nelson couldn't go beyond the first quarter. All three are seniors. All three would be in Montana's normal rotation.

"We just have no depth right now, no subs. That's part of life," said Holsinger. "We have limited people right now. People are having to play long minutes, too many minutes. We have to get healthy.

"We're not able to play the way I want to play because people are having to play way too many minutes. We had three of our top eight sitting over there (at the end of the bench)."

Montana led 15-11 after the first quarter but didn't score the first four-plus minutes of the second quarter. That allowed Rocky Mountain to take a 16-15 lead, its only advantage of the game.

Gfeller hit a pair of baskets and Keller and Stiles both connected from 3-point range to give the Lady Griz a 29-22 lead at the half.

Montana limited Rocky Mountain to 28.1 percent shooting in the first half, though the Bears only turned the ball over five times, which allowed them to remain within reach.

That Rocky Mountain hung around in the second half was due to the play of point guard N'Dea Flye, a Big Sky Conference-level talent on an NAIA team.

She would finish with 22 points, 10 rebounds and four steals. Her 22 points also came on 27 of Rocky's 64 shots, a tradeoff Holsinger will take any day.

"I was really pleased with a lot of our defensive effort. She took 27 shots to get 22 points, and that's fine. We've got to become more disciplined, understand the game plan and execute the game plan, but part of that is due to our numbers," he said.

Montana went up 43-29 midway through the third quarter on an Anderson jumper and led by 13 going into the fourth, but the Lady Griz weren't able to put their opponent away, not shooting 3 for 11 in the final frame.

Montana shot a respectable 43.1 percent from the field for the game, went 11 for 19 from the line and turned the ball over 14 times, two more than its 12 assists on 22 made baskets.

"I was a little disappointed in our offensive execution, just losing our minds a little bit, which is maybe to be expected when you're on the court with fans again," said Holsinger.

Montana will open its regular season on Tuesday when the Lady Griz host Northwest Nazarene at 5 p.m. as part of a doubleheader with the men's team, which hosts Dickinson State at 7:30 p.m.