Montana blows past Seattle, moves to 8-2

Thursday, December 16

Missoula, Mont.

7 PM

Montana

8-2

Seattle

4-5

Seattle

Montana

12/16/2021 10:39:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Photo Gallery

By: Montana Sports Information

Montana coach Brian Holsinger brought the hard truth to practice this week. His team had gotten off to slow starts in its last three games, trailing after the first quarter in each.

The Lady Griz fought back to win twice, but after last week's 63-50 home loss to Utah Valley, he knew he needed to make a change to his starting five. He had to make the tough call. His team needed it.

Haley Huard was in, Katerina Tsineke was out.

It was a move that sparked them both and Montana was the beneficiary on Thursday night as the Lady Griz rolled to an 83-57 win over Seattle at Dahlberg Arena in Missoula.

Huard, making her first career start, did her thing, hitting four 3-pointers and scoring 12 points. Tsineke, coming off the bench for the first time this season, erupted for a season-high 18.

She entered the game 2 for 17 from 3-point range. She hit three of her six attempts against the Redhawks, scoring her 18 points in just 17 minutes.

"Every once in a while, you pull the right strings as a coach and it just works out," said Holsinger. "You do it with as much information as you can to help the team.

"When you're unselfish, you do whatever is best for the team. Selflessness is the epitome of a team. Then she comes out and shoots better than she has all season. I'm proud of her."

Carmen Gfeller led both teams with 21 points on just 10 shots. She went 6 for 10 from the field, 7 of 8 from the free throw line.

Abby Anderson had an incredible line of nine points, nine rebounds, four assists, four steals and three blocks, and Sophia Stiles approached a triple-double with nine points, eight rebounds and seven assists.

"I'm proud of all our kids," said Holsinger, whose team improved to 8-2 by handling a team that has road wins this season at Sacramento State and Boise State.

After a slow start, perhaps the result of a week between games and the stress of finals, Montana used a strong finish to the second quarter to build a 29-22 halftime lead.

Then the third quarter began, and it was like few 10-minute stretches the Lady Griz have ever played on their home floor.

Montana went 11 for 14 and hit all seven of its 3-point attempts. Huard went 2 for 2, as did Tsineke and Nyah Morris-Nelson. Gfeller hit her lone attempt.

Montana put up 31 points in the period, its high for the season, and built a 60-33 lead late in the quarter.

"That was fun. It's fun when those things go in," said Holsinger. "Teams pack it in against us, and they should because we're tough inside. We want to go inside-out.

"We missed a few easy ones in the first half. I told them at halftime, hey, this isn't going to last. Keep shooting, keep being confident and we're going to make some shots."

It was a slow start for both teams, with the Lady Griz and Redhawks combining to go 8 for 28 in the first quarter, which ended with Montana holding a 14-12 lead.

"I think we were rubbing off some rust in the first quarter for sure," said Holsinger. "But we won the first quarter for the first time in a long time, so I'm really happy about that."

After falling behind 19-18, Montana closed with first half with a flourish. It was a half marked by its defense. Seattle made one basket in the second quarter and was 4 for 21 (.190) at the break.

It was Anderson who set the tone, blocking three shots in the first quarter. Montana was +32 in the 31:09 that she was on the floor on Thursday.

"Her defense was unbelievable tonight. She's just so good for our team. That was a gigantic effort," said Holsinger.

"We'll keep playing that great defense, because that's what matters. We didn't shoot well the first half but we had the lead because we played such tough defense."

With the game in hand, Holsinger was able to get all 13 of his players on the court, including freshman Lisa Kiefer, whose parents arrived in Missoula this week from Germany.

Their daughter got time in the fourth quarter and had a steal and hit a free throw.

"Her mom and dad were in the crowd, which is fantastic. I was hoping to get her in. I'm telling you, she's coming. She's getting better and has the right attitude. I'm just happy for her to have her family here," said Holsinger.

Montana finished +17 on the boards, its best margin of the season and the eighth consecutive game the Lady Griz have out-rebounded their opponent.

After shooting 30 percent in the first half, Montana went 18 for 32 (.563) in the second to finish at 43.5 percent for the game.

Seattle finished at 29.4 percent, the fourth time this season Montana has held an opponent to less than 30 percent shooting.

"Offensively we still have a ways to go. We're missing things and wide-open people. We're going to get better at reading the game without me telling them where the openings are, but it was a lot better than Utah Valley," said Holsinger.

Montana will host Utah State (5-4) on Monday at 6 p.m. at Dahlberg Arena in its final game before Christmas and the start of league on Dec. 30.

The Aggies defeated the Lady Griz 81-74 in the teams' matchup in Logan, Utah, to open last season.