Stiles brings down the house, Lady Griz win at the buzzer

Thursday, February 3

Missoula, Mont.

7 PM

Montana

13-5, 6-3BSC

Weber State

8-13, 4-8BSC

Weber State

Montana

Stiles brings down the house, Lady Griz win at the buzzer

2/3/2022 10:56:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Photo Gallery

By: Montana Sports Information

In a game of punch-counterpunch, it was Montana that landed the knockout blow in the form of a devasting fourth quarter as the Lady Griz rallied for a 61-59 victory over Weber State on Thursday night at Dahlberg Arena in Missoula.

After getting outscored 37-17 over the second and third quarters, when Montana shot 5 for 28, and trailing 52-41 entering the fourth, the Lady Griz conjured up some home-court magic to finish off a stirring comeback.

Sparked by a Sammy Fatkin basket and a 3-pointer by Katerina Tsineke that bounced and bounced and bounced before finally dropping through the net, Montana opened the fourth quarter on a 14-0 run that gave the Lady Griz a 55-52 lead.

That got the crowd into the game, and Weber State played like a team that averages 192 for its home contests. The Wildcats got rattled and fell apart, going 2 for 12 over the final 10 minutes with four turnovers.

"With the crowd's energy down the stretch, (Weber State was) defeated because our crowd was amazing," said coach Brian Holsinger. "They couldn't hear the calls on the floor, so Griz Nation, thank you very much."

Two free throws by Kyndall Keller with 38 seconds left, her first two attempts of the season, made it 59-56. Weber State tied it 11 seconds later when Kori Pentzer banked in a 3-pointer from the top of the key.

The situation required someone step up. It was only fitting that it was Sophia Stiles, who's led Holsinger's team on the floor and off since he was hired last spring.

Stiles, who drained the game clock down to four seconds before making her game-winning move, played off a flat screen by Abby Anderson near the top of the key, used a Jordan-like move with her off arm to create space from Daryn Hickok and drained the 18-footer.

The horn sounded while the ball was gently settling into the net.

That she was just 2 of 10 when she released it with 100 percent confidence was a reflection of Montana on the night. Ups and downs but finishing on a high.

"What a play by Sophia Stiles. It was an awesome win," said Holsinger. "She came off and crossed over and made a play. I wanted to space the floor and let her have the last shot.

"I'm proud of the kids. Soph ran it down perfectly. They played good defense. We just made a better play."

What an incredible finish by Sophia Stiles! A buzzer beater shot and a win for the Lady Griz! pic.twitter.com/pdzZSJBxqu — Montana Lady Griz (@MontanaGrizWBB) February 4, 2022

That it came down to a final shot, with Montana on 59 points when it left Stiles' fingers, would have come as a surprise to anyone who watched the Lady Griz dissect the Wildcats in the opening quarter.

Montana made nine of its first 14 shots in the game to race out to a 21-10 lead before seven minutes were gone.

That the Lady Griz missed their final two shots of the period hardly seemed to be a harbinger of things to come. After all, Montana led 24-15 after one high-scoring period. The Lady Griz looked like they were on their way to 90.

But then came a 3-for-16 second period, a 35-33 halftime deficit and a 2-for-12 third quarter as Montana fell behind by 15, 48-33, midway through the third period to a team that hadn't won in Missoula since the 2005-06 season.

Fatkin hit a 3-pointer and Abby Anderson scored inside to make it 48-39 with 3:28 to play in the third, but Weber State would take a 52-41 lead into the fourth.

"Credit to them. They fought and battled after that first quarter. We were a different team in the middle part of the game. We didn't do the things offensively it took to win," said Holsinger, whose team hadn't played since Jan. 24 and had played just three times since Jan. 6.

"Being inconsistent comes from not playing games. We came out and executed perfectly, then the second quarter we took a bunch of weird shots."

The historical record will show Kyndall Keller had just two points and three rebounds in the game, hinting that it was a middling contribution, but statistics don't always paint the complete picture.

She was on the floor for just over 12 minutes of the second half. When she was on the court, Montana outscored Weber State by 13 points.

She changed the game in a major way, no matter what the statistics say. Some things are just immeasurable and beyond quantification.

"Kyndall Keller changed the energy for us," said Holsinger. "Kyndall in the second half decided she was going to fight and scrap and made everything really hard for them.

"Our urgency on defense changed. When that changed, we got easy baskets in transition, we rebounded the ball better, everything."

Weber State would miss its first 10 shots of the fourth quarter. And Montana, pushed from behind by its rambunctious crowd, just kept coming and coming.

Tsineke's 3-pointer from the corner that bounced in cut the deficit to six and upped the decibel level. Then Fatkin scored on a fast break, then Fatkin hit two free throws, then Fatkin hit another free throw.

Abby Anderson, on a steal and lay-in, gave Montana the lead. Fatkin scored again to make it 55-52.

Fatkin, who has 44 points the last two games and eight straight with 11 or more, scored 11 of her game-high 20 points in the fourth quarter.

"She showed her growth and just decided to put our team on her back for a stretch. Awesome for her," said Holsinger.

Anderson finished with 14 points and three blocked shots, Carmen Gfeller had her fourth double-double of the season, the fifth of her career, with 11 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks.

Montana got outrebounded for just the third time this season and allowed an opponent to shoot better than 40 percent for just the fifth time, but it's now February, and those things take a back seat to what's most important: winning and remaining in the top five in the Big Sky.

Montana's big fourth quarter made it so and has the Lady Griz (13-5, 6-3 BSC) just one game out of first place in the loss column with preseason favorite Idaho State (13-8, 9-3 BSC) coming to Missoula for a game at 2 p.m. on Saturday.