Vikings hang around, top Lady Griz

Thursday, February 4

Missoula, Mont.

7 PM

Montana

Portland State

2/4/2021 10:48:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Photo Gallery

By: Montana Sports Information

Years from now, Kylie Jimenez won't remember, or even care, that she was 1 for 17 entering the game's penultimate possession when her Portland State team played at Montana on a Thursday night her senior year.

What she will easily recall is the driving layup she made with 2.3 seconds left that gave the Vikings a 61-60 win over the Lady Griz, a game Montana led for more than 36 minutes.

The scene then shifted to the other end of the court, where Montana had enough time to get the ball to Abby Anderson in the paint directly from an in-bounds pass in front of the Lady Griz bench.

That she missed a contested turnaround shot into heavy traffic will be an easy talking point -- was she fouled or was it just defended really well? -- but that would be choosing to ignore the bigger picture.

With a nod to Jimenez for coming through in the end, the game was not determined in the closing seconds. Or even the closing minutes.

It was a game Montana had, if not control of, then at least a winning outcome in its grasp. After all, the Lady Griz held the Vikings to 30.9 percent shooting and a 6-for-26 effort from 3-point range.

Leading by seven early in the fourth quarter, the Lady Griz, who led by 10 in the first half, would finish the final period going 3 for 11 with five turnovers.

"Everyone is going to want to talk about that last possession, but it didn't need to come down to the last play or the last two minutes," said coach Mike Petrino. "We put ourselves in position to prevent that last minute.

"We played well enough to win the game. We just didn't finish the game."

It was an odd one from the start, with Carmen Gfeller, Montana's leading scorer, picking up a pair of fouls less than 45 seconds in. She would sit the rest of the opening half.

That created an opportunity for the bench step up, and Kylie Frohlich didn't just walk through the open door, she emerged like she had entered a phone booth as Clark Kent.

With a previous career high of 10 points, she had that by halftime, going 4 for 6. She had 18 for the game, on 7-of-10 shooting, with six rebounds and three assists.

Kyndall Keller hit a pair of 3-pointers in the second quarter, Nyah Morris-Nelson hit her third of the year, and with Gfeller sitting for more than 19 minutes, Montana still led 29-24 at the half.

"Kylie played a great game. She gave us a great lift. I thought we had some kids come off the bench in that first half and give us some great minutes," Petrino said.

"They helped us get through the foul trouble we were in, helped us go into the half with the lead."

But the reason Gfeller was sitting was part of a bigger issue. Montana committed 22 fouls, a season high for a non-overtime game. Five players would finish the game with three or more.

Those fouls sent Portland State to the line 28 times, where they made 21, just what the Vikings needed to hang around and never lose touch on a night they didn't shoot well.

"They got 21 points from the line. We have to be better than that," said Petrino.

If the final minute belonged to Jimenez, the second half belonged to Desirae Hansen. She scored 18 of her game-high 22 points over the final 20 minutes.

Without her, Portland State would never have been in a position to win. "We let her get too hot," said Petrino. "That plus the free throws came back to bite us."

Hansen's 3-pointer gave Portland State a 57-56 lead with 2:23 to play, the Vikings' first lead since early in the opening period and helped erase all of Montana's 10-point advantage it built in the second quarter.

Sophia Stiles, off a sweet assist from Frohlich, put Montana back up 59-57 when she converted an and-one with 1:24 left.

After Jimenez missed her 16th shot of the game, a 3-pointer with 1:06 left, Montana had a chance to go up two possessions but only hit one of two free throws with 65 seconds on the clock.

Hansen's two free throws with 41 seconds left cut Montana's lead to one, 60-59.

That allowed Portland State to defend Montana's next possession instead of having to foul, and the Vikings forced a turnover with 20 seconds left, the 16th of the game for the Lady Griz.

"We had too many empty possessions at critical moments," said Petrino. "It hurts when you lead for most of the game and come up short. It's a tough loss."

That provided Jimenez with her grand redemption moment, and she took full advantage.

Starting from the top of the key with eight seconds left, she worked her way to the right side and got past a Lady Griz defender, which cleared a path on the baseline to the basket.

It's the only shot she'll need to remember from the game.

Frohlich would be the only Montana player to reach double figures. Gfeller would attempt just seven shots in limited minutes. Anderson finished 1 for 7.

Montana would go just 12 for 38 in the paint, or where the Lady Griz usually do their most damage.

"We had so many chances in the paint, shots that we've made all year. They just didn't go down tonight," said Petrino.

"Things that we've done all year that we've finished on, we didn't finish those plays. When you do that, you keep the door open, and they capitalized."

Anderson grabbed 11 rebounds, her second consecutive game in double figures, the third of her career, as Montana finished with a 47-35 advantage on the boards. She also had three assists, which tied for the team lead, and two steals.

The two teams will play at noon on Saturday at Dahlberg Arena.