Lady Griz pull out three-point win

Thursday, February 17

Missoula, Mont.

7 PM

Montana

15-8, 8-6BSC

Idaho

6-16, 5-8BSC

Idaho

Montana

Photo by: Derek Johnson

2/17/2022 10:35:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Photo Gallery

By: Montana Sports Information

In a remarkable game that had 21 lead changes and 14 ties, a game that neither team held a lead of more than five points, it was the Montana Hi-Line that proved to be the difference for the Lady Griz on Thursday night at Dahlberg Arena.

Sophia Stiles (Malta!) scored a career-high 27 points and Kyndall Keller (Havre!) added a season-high 16 as Montana snapped a two-game losing streak with a much-needed 76-73 victory over Idaho.

With the Lady Griz (15-8, 8-6 BSC) clinging to a one-point lead in the final minute, Montana forced a missed 3-pointer and a turnover, then got a 4-for-4 effort from Carmen Gfeller at the free throw line to win for just the third time in the last seven games.

"After a hard loss (at Eastern Washington on Monday), I'm so proud of the kids in terms of how hard they battled," said coach Brian Holsinger.

"I told them, if you mess up the game plan, so be it, but if you don't play tough, if you're not urgent and you don't play with freedom on offense, we can't be successful. I'm proud of the girls."

Gfeller finished with her fifth double-double of the season, the sixth of her career, with 11 points and 10 rebounds as Montana ended up +15 on the boards and shot 48.2 percent, its best shooting performance since Jan. 20, its second best since Christmas.

Montana held the high-scoring Vandals (6-16, 5-8 BSC) to 36.2 percent shooting and an 8-of-34 effort from the arc. But Idaho had just four turnovers, which it turned into 13 more shot attempts than Montana had, which kept the game tight into the final seconds.

After Gfeller made it 76-73 with two free throws with two seconds left, Idaho got the ball up the court via baseball pass, and Louise Forsyth, who topped Stiles for scoring honors with 29 points, got a decent look at the buzzer, but her shot glanced off the far side of the rim.

"We're trying to hold people down, and tonight we went up against a really good offensive team. They're good on offense. We hold them to 36 percent shooting and 23 percent from the 3-point line. That's a really good effort by us," said Holsinger.

Stiles has had some moments since the Christmas break, but she hasn't had a full Stiles Game since her personal destruction of Utah State right before the holidays.

It didn't take long to get the feel that she was dialed in on Thursday. And she stayed in the zone the entire game, fulfilling her role and then some of that left empty by the absence of Sammy Fatkin, who missed her fourth consecutive game.

She hit a 3-pointer just over a minute in – she'd only hit two since Christmas – and played with the confidence and assertiveness she needs to for Montana to be successful. She took 21 shots and not one of them felt forced. They were the result of her hunting for her shot, from basket to arc.

She had 12 points in the first quarter alone, on 5-of-8 shooting, 16 at the half, going 7 for 11. She added 11 more in the second half on 5-of-10 shooting and finished with six rebounds and four assists. And that's a Stiles Game, at least what's needed of her right now.

"She has to," said Holsinger. "Without Sammy out there, she has to be more aggressive, and she was tonight. Really proud of her. She leads us in every way, and she was awesome."

Montana trailed 39-38 at the half despite shooting 55.6 percent. Idaho just got more looks. Forsyth and Sydney Gandy both had 14 at the break.

If Stiles did the heavy lifting to get Montana to that point, Keller took some of the load in the third quarter, when she scored nine points in less than nine minutes, instant offense from a player who finished one off her career high.

Keller went 6 for 11 in nearly 26 minutes of court time and had a few misses that didn't miss by much.

"She stepped up big. We have to have people step up off our bench. You just have to have that kind of effort," said Holsinger.

In the fourth quarter, it was a little bit of everybody. Like Nyah Morris-Nelson hitting just her fourth 3-pointer in the last eight games that turned a one-point deficit early in the period into a two-point lead.

And back and forth the teams would go until the final shot missed and Montana could walk off the court a winner.

"We bounced back. It was nice to be at home. Griz Nation was awesome. Now we have to figure out how to play on the road," said Holsinger, whose team will play at Portland State on Saturday and face Idaho again on Monday in Moscow.

Forsyth, the Gonzaga transfer whose previous high this season was 18 points, scored 29 points on 21 shots in 28 minutes. There were times in the second half when Montana was threatening to gain some separation, and she was not having it.

"She got going and didn't stop. She had a great game," said Holsinger, whose team kept Beyonce Bea, the preseason Big Sky MVP, mostly in check. She finished with 13 points and 13 rebounds but shot 5 for 13. Gandy finished with 15 on 4-of-16 shooting. She went 3 for 12 from the arc.

Idaho's 73 points tied for the second most allowed by Montana this season, but Holsinger won't lose any sleep over it. The win was what his team needed, not another statistical achievement, and winning is what the Hi-Line does.