Lady Griz finalize nonconference schedule

The Montana women's basketball team will get Gonzaga at home in November and play five consecutive games inside Dahlberg Arena in December as part of the Lady Griz schedule that was finalized recently.

Montana's Big Sky Conference schedule was announced in July.

The Lady Griz, in their first year under head coach Brian Holsinger, will make their public debut on Wednesday, Oct. 27, at the annual Maroon and Silver scrimmage.

The women will play at 5 p.m., with the men to follow.

The scrimmage will serve as an introduction to a team that has undergone a major makeover since April. Just seven players who were on the team last year are back.

Headlining the returners are senior Abby Anderson and junior Carmen Gfeller, both third-team All-Big Sky selections last season.

The rest of the senior class is made up of Sammy Fatkin, who rejoined the team over the summer, Kylie Frohlich, Nyah Morris-Nelson and Sophia Stiles.

The other returners are sophomores Willa Albrecht and Kyndall Keller.

The team has five newcomers, four freshmen plus junior Katerina Tsineke, who played two years at East Carolina before transferring to Montana.

The incoming freshmen are Dani Bartsch, of Helena, Haley Huard, of Highlands Ranch, Colo., Lisa Kiefer, of Marburg, Germany, and Lamprini Polymeni, of Thessaloniki, Greece.

Montana will play one exhibition game, against Rocky Mountain, on Friday, Nov. 5, then open the season on Tuesday, Nov. 9, at home against Northwest Nazarene in a doubleheader with the men.

The women will play at 5 p.m. The men will face Dickinson State at 7:30 p.m.

The first big test of the season will be Gonzaga, which Montana will host on Sunday afternoon, Nov. 14. The Bulldogs have played in 11 of the last 12 NCAA tournaments.

"You always like to challenge yourself and have a gauge. They are the mid-major team in the country that's the standard in a lot of ways," said Holsinger.

"Why not get them here at home and see where we sit and where we need to get to? So I'm excited to play them."

Montana will head east for road games at North Dakota and North Dakota State, then head south and face Houston Baptist and Nicholls State at Grand Canyon's tournament over Thanksgiving weekend.

Not only was Phoenix in November inviting, so was the idea of playing back-to-back days against teams on a neutral floor, a schedule that might mirror the Big Sky tournament in Boise in March.

"I love to play neutral-site games against really good teams," said Holsinger. "You see how your team responds, because it's a little bit like the conference tournament.

"These will be teams we would not normally play, which is fun, in a great arena in a warm place. All those things are positives over Thanksgiving."

After returning home from Phoenix, Montana won't have a road game until after Christmas.

The Lady Griz open league at home against Sacramento State and Northern Colorado the first week of December, then get Utah Valley (Dec. 9), Seattle (Dec. 16) and Utah State (Dec. 20) at Dahlberg Arena.

All three teams owed Montana a return visit. The Lady Griz won at Utah Valley two seasons ago, then played at Utah State and Seattle last year. Montana lost 81-74 to Utah State and won 61-55 at Seattle.

"(Assistant coach Jordan Sullivan) did a great job getting all the game situated that were already there," said Holsinger.

"My focus when I got here was to get some home games on the schedule early, because who doesn't want to play at home? We want to be dominant at home and we want to play in front of our fans."

The opening of league against Sacramento State and Northern Colorado on Dec. 2 and 4 will highlight the offseason turnover in the head coaches in the league.

The Lady Griz, the Hornets and the Bears are all under new head coaches, as are Eastern Washington and Portland State.

The teams with the most stability -- Idaho under Jon Newlee, Idaho State under Seton Sobolewski, Montana State under Tricia Binford -- will, not surprisingly, be the teams to beat this coming winter.

"There is a lot of new, so you just kind of figure everyone out as you go," said Holsinger. "At the same time, there are teams that are very established. You have a mixture, which will be fun to see.

"I know most of the coaches in the league one way or the other, so it will be fun to reconnect with them and compete against them."

Montana will play at likely preseason favorite Idaho State the first game after Christmas, on Dec. 30.

The Lady Griz will play day-night doubleheaders with the men against Montana State, with games at Bozeman on Saturday, Jan. 8, at Missoula on Saturday, Feb. 26.

The Big Sky tournament will open in Boise on Monday, March 7.

"I know we'll win games if we just continue to improve. We're going to focus on getting better every day. Everyone has done a great job of that so far," said Holsinger.

University of Montana Athletics

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Players Mentioned

Willa Albrecht

Abby Anderson

Dani Bartsch

Sammy Fatkin

Kylie Frohlich

Carmen Gfeller

Haley Huard

Kyndall Keller

Lisa Kiefer

Nyah Morris-Nelson

Lamprini Polymeni

Sophia Stiles

Katerina Tsineke

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