Lady Griz open Holsinger era with 84-46 win

Tuesday, November 9

Missoula, Mont.

5 PM

Montana

1-0

Northwest Nazarene

Montana

11/9/2021 9:04:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Photo Gallery

By: Montana Sports Information

On a night that could have been about him, an 84-46 victory over Northwest Nazarene on Tuesday at Dahlberg Arena in Missoula in his debut and his first game as a head coach since 2007, Montana's new women's basketball coach made sure it was about the bigger picture.

It was a win, sure, but that was almost secondary.

"I told (the players out on the floor after the game), I don't really care about the score. We are here to play the right way. We're here to play defense the right way, we're here to execute offensively," said Brian Holsinger.

"I don't care who's on the floor, I don't care what the score is. It doesn't matter. The score will take care of itself."

It did, because Montana, sparked by the return of Sammy Fatkin and led by double-doubles from Abby Anderson and Carmen Gfeller, played about as well as Holsinger could have hoped for just four days after struggling to put away Rocky Mountain in the team's lone exhibition game.

Fatkin, so efficient offensively and such a menace defensively with her instincts and length, led five players in double figures with 19 points as Montana shot 51.6 percent in its regular-season opener while holding the Nighthawks to 20.3 percent.

Northwest Nazarene made just six baskets in the second half on 38 attempts.

If the Nighthawks hadn't grabbed 16 offensive rebounds and turned them into 15 second-chance points, it would have gotten even more lopsided. As it was, they took 17 more shots than the Lady Griz, which will give Holsinger something to work on as he prepares his team to face Gonzaga on Sunday afternoon.

"We're trying to make it really hard for people to score. Without the second-chance points, it would have been really miserable tonight for them," he said. "We're getting better at defense. They know how important it is to me. We're always trying to make people miss and go get the ball and let's go.

"We played better most of the time tonight."

Northwest Nazarene, which was counting the game as an exhibition, missed its first 10 shots of the game. That cold start allowed Montana to jump out to leads of 15-0 and 20-2.

The Nighthawks, a regular at the NCAA Division II national tournament, found their footing over the final minutes of the first quarter and the first half of the second period. They would cut Montana's lead to eight, 33-25 with 2:54 to go before the break.

Then Montana buried the visitors, closing the half on an 11-0 run that made it 44-25, highlighted by a balletic finish off an open-court steal by Anderson right before the horn.

Fatkin, who rejoined the Lady Griz this season after stepping away from basketball in December 2019, led both teams with 13 first-half points.

"Everybody got to see Sammy tonight. When she wants to go, she's pretty good," said Holsinger. "I'm glad to have her back.

"She was a gigantic spark. She's super-talented and an awesome kid. I'm so proud of her. She's been through a lot. All I told her is I want this to be the best basketball year of her life. That's all we're trying to do."

If Fatkin provided the first half's sizzle, Gfeller did yeoman's work. She scored 11 points on 4-of-5 shooting and grabbed 11 rebounds, matching her career high in the first half.

Anderson would finish with 16 points and 11 boards for her fifth career double-double, Gfeller with 11 points and 14 rebounds for her second, as Montana, despite Northwest Nazarene's 16 offensive boards, finished +11 on the glass.

"I'm so proud of (Anderson and Gfeller) because I've been on them about rebounding, rebounding, rebounding," said Holsinger.

"We go into the half and they have 18 of our 25 rebounds. What you focus on is what you become. Look at those two. They got after it on the glass."

Montana would start the second half just as well as it did the first. The Lady Griz scored the opening eight points of the half while holding the Nighthawks without a point for nearly the first five minutes.

Northwest Nazarene went 2 for 21 in the third quarter, which allowed Montana to pull away for good.

Sophia Stiles added eight points, five rebounds, five assists and two steals, Katerina Tsineke went 5 for 8 for 10 points, and Haley Huard came off the bench to drain a pair of 3-pointers on her way to 12 points in her Lady Griz debut.

It was Holsinger's as well, and as much as he wants to focus in on his team's execution, no matter the opponent, no matter who's on the court, no matter what the score is, winning your first game as coach of the Lady Griz is a pretty big deal. That only happens once in a guy's career.

"It's special. It's humbling to be the head coach here. I'm proud of it. That's why I wanted to come here. It's so special to have people who appreciate a good team. I don't care if it's women's or men's, people appreciate good basketball," he said. "So we're trying to play good basketball."

A much tougher opponent will be in Missoula on Sunday to put that to the test. Montana and Gonzaga, which went 23-4 last season, tip off at 2 p.m. inside Dahlberg Arena.