Montana gets its shot at nationally ranked Gonzaga

The Montana women's basketball team will wrap up its nonconference and pre-Christmas schedule this week when it faces No. 22 Gonzaga on Wednesday at Spokane, Wash.

The Lady Griz (4-6), who have won their last two games, and Bulldogs (11-2), who have won their last four, will tip off at 7 p.m. (MT) inside the McCarthey Athletic Center.

Montana will take a short break for Christmas, then open Big Sky Conference play with games at Eastern Washington and Idaho on Dec. 29 and 31.

Coverage: Wednesday's game will air on SWX-TV in Spokane and be streamed through wccsports.com, with Greg Heister and Stephanie Hawk-Freeman calling the action.

The Montana broadcast can be heard on KMPT 930 AM/99.7 FM or 930kmpt.com, with Riley "Ace" Sauerwein on the call.

History, part I: Montana leads the all-time series against Gonzaga 17-16, but that advantage is historically deceptive.

The Lady Griz won the teams' first 10 games, from 1980 through 1992 and 14 of the teams' first 16 matchups. The Bulldogs have won 14 of 17 since 1999.

Gonzaga has won the teams' last nine meetings, with Montana's last win in the series an 88-78 victory in Missoula during the 2006-07 season.

Gonzaga is 10-7 against Montana in Spokane, with five straight wins. The Lady Griz' last win in Spokane was a 72-60 in 2005-06.

During its current nine-game winning streak against Montana, Gonzaga has won by an average of 15.1 points per game, though the teams' last two games have each been decided by seven points.

Montana's last trip to Spokane, in 2020-21, was a 58-51 Gonzaga win. It was a two-point game, 48-46, with 2:48 left in the fourth quarter when Kayleigh Truong hit the game's big shot, a 3-pointer.

The teams played last season in Missoula, a 67-60 Gonzaga win. The Bulldogs led 36-28 at the half, and the Lady Griz could get no closer than five points in the second half.

History, part II: Montana is 12-49 against ranked opponents in its history, though all but one of those wins came between the mid-80s and mid-90s.

The Lady Griz are 1-23 in their last 24 games against ranked opponents, with 14 consecutive losses. That lone win was a 61-58 home win over No. 24 Utah in 2003-04.

Montana's last road win against a ranked opponent was a 67-65 victory at No. 14 Western Kentucky in 1996-97.

Tough venue: Gonzaga is 233-30 at home since the McCarthey Athletic Center opened nearly two decades ago. The Lady Griz have one of those wins, their 72-60 win in 2005-06.

It was a distinctive victory. Montana was the first visiting men's or women's team to win at the new venue after Gonzaga's two basketball teams opened the facility with 32 straight wins.

The Lady Griz are 1-9 against the Bulldogs in Spokane since 1996, 1-5 at the McCarthey Athletic Center since it opened.

At a glance (Montana): Montana, which won at South Dakota on Dec. 11, extended its winning streak to two with an 87-56 home win over Montana Tech on Sunday evening.

Coming off finals week and seven days between games, the Lady Griz trailed the Orediggers 21-20 after the opening quarter.

Montana outscored Montana Tech 50-16 over the second and third periods to pull away.

Notes:

* Montana shot 50 percent to match a season high. The Lady Griz also shot 50 percent in their 82-77 home win over North Dakota in November.

* Montana had five players in double figures for the second time this season. Five players were in double figures against North Dakota.

* Sammy Fatkin and Libby Stump both scored 14 points. Haley Huard had 11, Mack Konig and Alex Pirog added 10 each.

* Despite coming off the bench in all 10 games this season, Stump has led or matched for the team high in scoring five times.

* Over the last six games, Stump is averaging 12.7 points while going 30 for 55 (.545) from the field, 11 for 23 (.478) from the arc.

* Fatkin leads the team with seven double-figure scoring performances through 10 games. … Huard has gone 9 for 16 (.563) from 3-point range the last three games.

* Montana went 6 for 28 (.214) from the arc against Montana Tech after going 30 for 63 (.476) the previous three games.

* The Lady Griz are shooting 36.3 percent from 3-point range away from home this season, 31.0 inside Dahlberg Arena.

* Montana was 31 for 46 (.674) from inside the arc against Montana Tech and outscored the Orediggers 60-20 in the paint.

* Montana entered the Montana Tech game averaging 16.7 turnovers per game. The Lady Griz had a season-low five against the Orediggers.

* It was the third time in 40 games under second-year coach Brian Holsinger that Montana has had five or fewer turnovers in a game.

* Konig had a team-high five assists against Montana Tech. She has 14 assists the last three games.

* Pirog had the best game of her freshman season on Sunday. Her 10 points came on 5-of-5 shooting and she grabbed a season-high nine rebounds.

* Over the last three games Pirog is averaging an efficient 6.0 points and 6.0 rebounds in 16.7 minutes. She has taken 10 shots and made nine.

* Montana shot 49.2 percent in its wins over South Dakota and Montana Tech. The Lady Griz shot 34.8 percent during their four-game losing streak that preceded the two wins.

* Montana is 4-0 this season when outshooting its opponent, 0-6 when it gets outshot. … The Lady Griz are 4-0 this season when scoring 70 or more points, 0-6 when scoring fewer than 70 points.

At a glance (Gonzaga): The Bulldogs improved to 7-0 at home this season, 11-2 overall, with a 70-59 victory over San Diego on Monday night.

Gonzaga opened West Coast Conference play on Saturday with a 67-58 home win over BYU and made it 2-0 in league with Monday night's win.

The Bulldogs have an average home attendance of 4,771 through seven games.

Gonzaga's losses this season were a 70-66 setback against Marquette in the Bahamas and an 84-63 defeat at Stanford. Marquette is currently 9-2, Stanford 11-1 and ranked No. 2 nationally.

Gonzaga defeated Louisville and Tennessee in the Bahamas, as part of the Bad Boy Mowers Battle 4 Atlantis. Both teams were ranked at the time.

Six-foot-one forward Yvonne Ejim, second-team All-WCC last season, leads Gonzaga in both scoring (16.1/g) and rebounding (7.7/g) while shooting 53.1 percent.

Senior guard Kaylynne Truong, who gave Montana fits last season, scoring 15 critical points off the bench, is averaging 15.0 points and 4.8 assists.

Senior Brynna Maxwell, who played the last three seasons at Utah before transferring to Gonzaga, is averaging 14.2 points. She is the team's top 3-point threat, going 35 for 69 (.507).

Redshirt junior Eliza Hollingsworth, who is back after missing three games, is averaging 10.5 points and 5.3 rebounds per game.

The team's only returning starter from last season, guard Kayleigh Truong, hasn't played since Nov. 21 because of a foot injury.

Gonzaga's top four scorers all play more than 28 minutes per game.

The Bulldogs are shooting 44.6 percent his season, 39.2 percent from the arc, 80.3 percent from the free throw line. Gonzaga's team free throw percentage ranks fourth in the nation.

Gonzaga has played in 13 NCAA tournaments, all coming since the 2005-06 season. The Bulldogs have played in the last five and 12 of the last 13.

Gonzaga went 27-7 last season and finished second in the WCC at 15-2 behind BYU.

The Bulldogs lost twice to the Cougars during the regular season, including 63-39 in the teams' game in Provo, but Gonzaga defeated BYU 71-59 in the WCC tournament championship game.

Gonzaga, a No. 9 seed, defeated No. 8 Nebraska 68-55 in the first round of the NCAA tournament, the program's 14th NCAA tournament victory.

The Bulldogs' season ended with a 68-59 loss to No. 1 Louisville on the Cardinals' home floor in the second round.

Coach Lisa Fortier, who has had the same coaching staff with her the entire time, is 216-56 in her ninth season.

Around the Big Sky Conference:

* Sacramento State improved to a league-best 8-2 on Monday with a 63-61 road win at Cal State Northridge. The Hornets play at 5-3 Cal State Fullerton on Wednesday.

* Second-place Northern Colorado dropped to 7-3 with a 69-57 road loss at 10-2 Kansas State on Sunday.

* Eastern Washington, which had its game at Gonzaga last month postponed (and likely canceled), is 6-3 after last week's 88-38 loss at Oregon. The Eagles made just 13 baskets, going 13 for 61 (.213).

* Preseason Big Sky favorite Montana State will take a 7-5 record into league. The Bobcats played in Hawaii last weekend, losing to LSU 91-52 and defeating Nevada 64-43.

* Idaho State is 5-4 and will get games against Central Florida and Loyola Chicago this week in Orlando.

* Northern Arizona improved to 6-6 with an 83-81 road win at UC Davis on Monday. The Lumberjacks will face 9-2 UNLV on the road on Wednesday.

* Idaho (4-6) has won consecutive games for the first time this season, defeating Denver at home, 91-83, and Grand Canyon on the road, 81-78 in overtime.

The Vandals trailed 69-61 with 80 seconds left in the fourth quarter at Grand Canyon and 72-66 with 40 seconds left but got 3-pointers by Tiana Johnson and Sydney Gandy to send the game to overtime.

Upcoming: Montana will open league at Eastern Washington on Thursday, Dec. 29.

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Players Mentioned

Sammy Fatkin

Haley Huard

Mack Konig

Alex Pirog

Libby Stump

University of Montana Athletics