Lady Griz pull away from Eagles

Thursday, February 18

Missoula, Mont.

7 PM

Montana

11-7, 8-5BSC

Eastern Washington

6-14, 5-10BSC

Eastern Washington

Montana

2/18/2021 10:36:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Photo Gallery

By: Montana Sports Information

In the latest edition of the Montana-Eastern Washington rock fight, it was the Lady Griz' upperclassmen who were able to do the most damage.

Abby Anderson had a game-high 20 points, Madi Schoening, with 10 points and 10 rebounds, had her first double-double in more than a year, and Sophia Stiles added 12 points as Montana pulled away in the second half for a 65-53 victory over the Eagles on Thursday night at Dahlberg Arena in Missoula.

"It was a good, hard-fought win. Whenever we play Eastern, it's a physical game that exhausts all your energy. It's two teams battling out there," said coach Mike Petrino.

The win keeps Montana in the top five in the Big Sky Conference standings. From a historical perspective, it gives the Lady Griz their first four-game winning streak of the season and their first four-game winning streak in league since 2015-16, the final year of Robin Selvig's legendary career.

Few things came easily for Montana on Thursday, which is the case more often than not when the Lady Griz go up against Eastern Washington.

Both teams shot below 38 percent on a night when uncontested looks on either end were hard to come by.

"I thought we did a good job defensively," said Petrino, whose team has held 16 of its last 17 opponents to a shooting percentage below 40.

The Eagles finished at 36.2 percent. The team's top four scorers were all held below their season average.

"We had a couple breakdowns but overall did a really good job defending their actions and trying to do our best to challenge their shots," said Petrino. "We played consistent, solid defense."

Eastern Washington didn't have anyone of Anderson's size, so they defended by committee. With the option to give up the ball every time she touched it or play away from pressure, Anderson went on the aggressive time and time again.

Of her 20 points, 12 came at the line, where she was an efficient 12 of 14. She scored 16 of her 20 points in the second half. It was the third game of 20 or more points in her career.

"Abby was great tonight. She was fantastic. She took a lot of contact and played through it. She was strong to the basket, not fading away," said Petrino.

Montana was +16 when Anderson was on the floor, which she was for a team-high 31:04. That speaks to the work she did on offense and the effort she continues to put in on the defensive end.

The two blocked shots she had were a small part of her overall impact.

"She did a great job of being a presence on both offense and defense. She is such a factor on defense. Even if she doesn't get the block, she alters so many shots," said Petrino.

The Eagles led for only 35 seconds on Thursday but trailed just 35-29 at the half, that after a 9-2 run to close the first half by the Lady Griz sent them into the break with some momentum.

The tone for the second half was set on Montana's opening possession. Stiles missed but Anderson was there to grab the offensive rebound. She scored on the put-back and added the and-one free throw to make it a nine-point game, 38-29.

Montana had 10 second-chance points in the second half and finished +13 in that category for the game, one point more than the final margin.

"That was huge. There were some in the second half that allowed us to pull away," said Petrino, whose team made it the line 23 times, where they made 19.

Schoening had four offensive rebounds, three in the second half. She now has 493 rebounds for her career, leaving her seven from becoming the 36th player in Lady Griz history to reach 500.

"Madi was amazing. She just attacked the boards, and that was big for us," said Petrino.

Montana shot a healthy 44.4 percent in the first half but also turned the ball over nine times. They had just four in the second half. Those extra possessions, plus the offensive rebounding that extended those possessions, were the key.

"We were working hard in the first half, but those were nine possessions we couldn't get back," said Petrino. "A lot of them were simple pass-and-catch turnovers. We talked about settling down."

Eastern Washington played it correctly by collapsing on Montana's interior threats of Anderson and Carmen Gfeller, who was limited to six points on 2-of-9 shooting.

The Lady Griz went 8 for 31 from the arc in two games at Weber State last week and followed that up with a 4-for-15 performance on Thursday.

"They were collapsing on our inside game. We got some inside-out touches and made some timely threes," Petrino said. "I wouldn't say we shot what we like from three, but we had some timely ones."

With Montana shooting 31 percent in the second half, the opportunities were there Eastern Washington to mount a comeback, but the Eagles, too, struggled from the arc, going 5 for 22.

"They are going to get their shots up, so we were just trying to disrupt as much as we could," said Petrino. "They are a good shooting team from three.

"With the exception of a couple breakdowns, we did a pretty good job of not giving them rhythm threes, and that's key against a team like that. Contest those shots the best you can."

Montana built its lead to 11 in the third quarter and never led by more than a dozen in the fourth, which ended up being the final margin.

"Conference wins at this time of the season are great. They're exciting," said Petrino. "Now we have a quick turnaround. We'll have a morning practice and get on the bus."

The teams will play in Cheney at 1 p.m. (MT) on Saturday.