Lady Griz drop heartbreaker in Flagstaff

Thursday, February 10

Flagstaff, Ariz.

6 PM

Montana

14-7, 7-5BSC

Northern Arizona

11-10, 8-5BSC

Montana

Northern Arizona

Photos: Northern Arizona Athletics

2/10/2022 9:29:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

By: Montana Sports Information

It was the final second that provided the drama, but it was the first 39-plus minutes that proved costly as Montana fell 60-59 on a buzzer-beater at Northern Arizona in Flagstaff on Thursday night.

Sophia Stiles appeared to hit her second consecutive Thursday game-winner when her floater from 15 feet with 0.8 seconds left gave the Lady Griz (14-7, 7-5 BSC) a 59-57 lead.

But the Lumberjacks (11-10, 8-5 BSC) advanced the ball and scored on an inbounds pass to the rim while getting fouled. Khiarica Rasheed's free throw with 0.4 seconds left proved to be the game-winner.

"You win some of these games, you lose some of them. We just didn't make enough plays. It never comes down to the end, it just doesn't," said Lady Griz coach Brian Holsinger.

Montana can look back to the first half as a hole too deep to emerge from. The Lady Griz went 2 for 16 in the first quarter, 6 for 31 in the first half with one made 3-pointer on 13 attempts.

Back-to-back 3-pointers by Haley Huard midway through the fourth quarter gave Montana a 52-49 lead, its first since it was 2-0, and the teams went back and forth until the final buzzer.

"There were many turnovers throughout the game that were just poor," said Holsinger. "And we're still fouling way too much. Those things equal not winning.

"It's heartbreaking. I feel bad. You wish you could make that one play and win the game, and we didn't make it today. But our kids battled. I'm proud of them."

With Montana trailing 55-52, Carmen Gfeller, who sat most of the first half with two fouls, hit a 3-pointer to tie it with 2:25 to go.

Stiles, who had her best offensive game since Christmas with 18 points on 7-of-10 shooting, put the Lady Griz up 57-55 with 1:23 to play.

NAU tied it with 63 seconds left and it remained 57-57 until Stiles almost repeated what she did last Thursday when she hit a game-winner at the buzzer to beat Weber State.

She took an inbounds pass in front of Montana's bench, drove to the free throw line and nailed a runner.

But it came with 0.8 seconds left, enough time for a lob to the rim that NAU executed perfectly, Nina Radford to Rasheed.

"We executed perfectly down here. We didn't execute multiple times down there," said Holsinger.

"You've got to make a play. We should have switched and tipped the ball away. They caught it and scored and we fouled them."

After Montana took an early 2-0 lead, Northern Arizona scored the next 12 points to go up double digits in the opening period.

The Lady Griz went nearly eight minutes between baskets in the first quarter and trailed 14-5 after one.

"We didn't shoot the ball well tonight. We were disjointed and our passing was poor," said Holsinger. "When your passing is poor, you don't shoot the ball very well."

That Montana trailed just 27-22 at the break despite shooting 6 for 31, with eight turnovers and seven missed three throws, was a small victory in itself.

Montana's defense more than carried its weight, holding Northern Arizona to 33.3 percent shooting in the first half and allowing only four offensive rebounds that led to four points.

The Lady Griz were red-hot in the second half, going 15 for 27 (.556), with Stiles, Huard and Dani Bartsch, who would record her first collegiate double-double, going 11 for 13.

Bartsch added two assists, both of which came on kick-outs to Huard after getting the ball at the high post against Northern Arizona's zone. It was simple basketball. And effective.

"It's amazing how simple plays work," said Holsinger. "When you keep it simple and make the easy play, shots go in."

Bartsch, who played more than 21 minutes because of Gfeller's foul trouble, finished with 10 points and a game-high 10 rebounds.

Montana played without Sammy Fatkin for the second consecutive game.

The loss drops Montana out of the top five in the Big Sky Conference standings, behind NAU and Sacramento State, which won at Northern Colorado on Thursday night.

Idaho State took over the top spot in the standings with a home win over Idaho and Montana State's overtime loss at Southern Utah.