Lady Griz dismantle Thunderbirds

Thursday, February 24

Missoula, Mont.

7 PM

Montana

17-9, 10-7BSC

Southern Utah

16-11, 12-6BSC

Southern Utah

Montana

2/24/2022 11:12:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Photo Gallery

By: Montana Sports Information

The Montana women's basketball team did just about everything right on Thursday night, and the end result was a 71-46 victory over Southern Utah at Dahlberg Arena in Missoula.

Facing a team needing a win to remain in the race for a Big Sky Conference championship, it was the Lady Griz who looked the part of heavyweight.

Montana held the Thunderbirds to a season-low point total, out-rebounded the Big Sky's top team in that category by a dozen and executed so well in the second half that both teams went deep into their bench by the end of the fourth quarter.

It was over well before the clock said it was over.

"I'm so proud of them," said coach Brian Holsinger. "We dominated them in pretty much every way, shape and form. We played a really good second half. Actually, three quarters were really, really good."

The loss knocked Southern Utah (16-11, 12-6 BSC) two games behind Big Sky leader Idaho State, which rallied at home to defeat Northern Arizona on Thursday night.

NAU's loss and Sacramento State's setback at Idaho allowed Montana (17-9, 10-7 BSC) to move alone into fourth place in the league standings, important positioning with March approaching.

Thursday was also an important performance with the Big Sky Conference tournament starting in less than two weeks in Boise.

Montana held a team that put up 90 on Monday against Northern Arizona to 46, more than 25 points below its season average.

"I really wanted to defend well tonight. I want our kids to get better at that because I know what wins in the tournament. That's what wins," said Holsinger.

"Tonight we defended with the kind of intensity that I expect for all 40 minutes."

Southern Utah was without Darri Dotson, its leading scorer and rebounder. Montana was without Sammy Fatkin for the seventh straight game.

With those personnel losses balancing out, Montana outscored Southern Utah 20-10 in the opening period and never looked back while improving to 11-0 all-time at home against the Thunderbirds.

Of course, it wasn't that easy. Montana led 9-8 five minutes in when Holsinger, always quick to address an on-court problem, either through substitution or timeout, put Kylie Frohlich and Dani Bartsch into the game.

That Montana closed the period on an 11-2 run was no coincidence.

"I thought the big difference for us tonight was when Kylie and Dani came off the bench in the first quarter," said Holsinger.

"I was not happy how we started. I put them in early and they just changed the whole dynamic of how we played, posting right, rebounding, effort."

Both teams went a frosty 3 for 15 in the second quarter, which ended with Montana holding a 30-21 halftime lead.

Then the Lady Griz blitzed the visitors. Montana went 10 for 13 in the third quarter and hit three of its four 3-point shots to pull away.

"That will be a good quarter for you any day," said Holsinger. "Anytime you can shoot like that, it's efficient offense."

Montana, which had played five of its previous six games on the road, led 53-35 after three quarters and built its lead to 27 in the fourth to improve to 11-3 at Dahlberg Arena this season.

"This has been a stretch. They were just excited to be home," said Holsinger.

Sophia Stiles led Montana with 17 points and added five assists without any turnovers. Abby Anderson, who is finally getting her shots to roll in after watching game after game of them rolling out, had 14 points on 6-of-12 shooting.

It was Stiles' sixth consecutive game in double figures, a career high.

Frohlich added 10 off the bench, her sixth career game with 10 or more, part of a 26-point effort from Montana's reserves.

After out-rebounding Southern Utah by 10 in Cedar City earlier this month, a 69-64 Lady Griz win, Montana did it again, this time 40-28.

Bartsch had six, as did Nyah Morris-Nelson, with Katerina Tsineke and Kyndall Keller each grabbing five.

"It's big-time for our guards to help us out on the glass like that," said Holsinger, whose team allowed only five offensive rebounds, a season low for the Thunderbirds, and six second-chance points. "That was a big goal for us."

And after five consecutive games with 15 or more turnovers, Montana had just 11 on Thursday. Southern Utah didn't convert them into a single point.

"We talk about things that are important, and that's one of them," said Holsinger. "We want to take better care of the ball. We get a little loose with it at times."

Montana finished at 45.2 percent shooting, its fourth straight game above 45 percent after shooting below 40 percent in 10 of its first 11 games after the Christmas break.

The Lady Griz went an efficient 7 for 14 from the arc, 8 for 9 from the line.

Lizzy Williamson led Southern Utah with 14 points on 7-of-8 shooting, eight rebounds and five blocks.

Montana now turns its attention to Montana State, which has defeated the Lady Griz seven consecutive times, three straight in Missoula.

The Bobcats (18-10, 13-4 BSC), who were off on Thursday and fell half a game behind Idaho State in the Big Sky standings, defeated Montana 73-59 when the teams played in Bozeman in January.

"We have to be mentally tough," said Holsinger. "They are good, they are physical, they are tough. They are going to get in your face, so you have to be willing to square people up and be strong with the ball.

"We'll be at home, and this is our place. We're going to defend our home every time. People don't beat us here. That's not okay, so we'll be ready to go. It's a big game."

Saturday's game will tip off at 7 p.m.