Shockers rally, surge past Lady Griz

Friday, November 25

Los Angeles, Calif.

4:30 PM (MT)

Montana

2-3

Wichita State

4-1

OT 1

Wichita St.

Montana

11/25/2022 7:51:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

By: Montana Sports Information

The Montana women's basketball team had everything lined up for its best win of the young season on Friday afternoon in the opening game of the Loyola Marymount Thanksgiving Classic in Los Angeles.

Montana led Wichita State 45-36 after three quarters and was 10 minutes away from its third consecutive win.

The Lady Griz were holding the Shockers to 33.3 percent shooting and had held the lead for more than 23 minutes.

But over the next 15 minutes -- the fourth quarter and five minutes of overtime -- Wichita State outscored Montana 42-24 to rally for a 78-69 victory.

The Shockers shot 14 for 24 over the final 15 minutes after going 16 for 48 through the first 30.

"We got what we deserved, to be honest," said Lady Griz coach Brian Holsinger. "We stopped defending. It's that simple.

"It's the epitome of our team right now. We play for 30 minutes, not 40. We don't take defense seriously enough. We don't think it's that important yet.

"You have to do it for 40 minutes. If you don't do it for 40 minutes, you don't get to win. That's what happened today. I have to get our kids to understand that defense is the way to win."

The game marked the season debut of Preseason All-Big Sky selection Carmen Gfeller, who opened the game's scoring in the first minute.

With balanced scoring and a salty defensive effort, Montana led 17-14 after the opening quarter.

The Lady Griz never trailed in the second quarter and took a 28-26 lead into halftime after a late basket by Mack Konig.

With Gfeller and Libby Stump hitting 3-pointers in the third quarter and Montana forcing seven Wichita State turnovers, the Lady Griz outscored the Shockers 17-10 to build its 45-36 lead.

The lead reached 11 points, 47-36, when Keeli Burton-Oliver scored in the opening minute of the fourth quarter.

Montana would go more than four minutes without a made field goal, which allowed Wichita State to pull within a single possession.

Haley Huard, who entered the game 3 for 16 from the 3-point line but went 4 for 8 against the Shockers, hit a pair of key 3-pointers late in regulation to keep Montana in front.

Wichita State pulled even at 58-58 with 1:42 to go and had a chance to win at the buzzer but DJ McCarty's sneaky inbounds pass and shot in the final second was swatted away by Dani Bartsch.

Montana had the momentum of Bartsch's big block, but Wichita State had the momentum of the larger comeback.

That continued in the overtime, as the Shockers went 7 for 8 and Shamaryah Duncan hit three 3-pointers, one more than Wichita State had hit as a team through 40 minutes of regulation.

After the teams traded early baskets, Wichita State scored 13 of the overtime's next 15 points to take control.

"We have a lead going into the fourth quarter and we all relax," said Holsinger. "We have to get a lot tougher. That's on me as a coach.

"We played a really good game for 30 minutes. We should have handled the fourth quarter better. We were in a position to win the game and didn't make it happen."

Gina Marxen led Montana with 17 points while dishing out a game-high six assists. Huard scored a season-high 13 points, Burton-Oliver and Stump both had 12.

Gfeller, in her return, had five points on five shots and added three assists in 26 minutes.

Burton-Oliver, who shot 5 for 8, grabbed eight rebounds, as did Bartsch, who had three steals and three blocks.

Montana will play California at 4:30 p.m. (MT) on Saturday.