Lady Griz finalize nonconference schedule

The Montana women's basketball program finalized its nonconference schedule for the 2022-23 season recently.

One year after playing a pre-Christmas schedule that allowed the Lady Griz to take a 9-2 record into the short holiday break, Montana will face a decidedly tougher lineup of opponents in Year 2 under coach Brian Holsinger.

Of Montana's nine Division I nonconference opponents, three played in the NCAA tournament last season, two made the WNIT, and that doesn't include California and Wichita State, teams the Lady Griz will face at Loyola Marymount's tournament over Thanksgiving.

Montana will play four of those five teams that advanced to national tournaments last season on the road.

"I'm excited. We upped the ante in our schedule without a doubt," said Holsinger, who led Montana to 19 wins in his first season, the most for the program since 2015-16.

"It will be much more challenging than it was last year. I'm looking forward to seeing how our team responds and how they grow."

Montana will play three of its first four regular-season games at home, starting with North Dakota State, a team the Lady Griz defeated 65-63 in Fargo last November on a buzzer-beater by Carmen Gfeller.

Four days later will be a road game at Colorado State, against a team that opened last year 10-1 on its way to 21 wins, a spot in the Mountain West championship game and later the WNIT.

The Lady Griz School Day game will make its return on Tuesday, Nov. 15, against Providence, with an 11 a.m. tip. It will be the first School Day game since 2019-20, when 7,205 mostly elementary-aged fans packed into Dahlberg Arena for a 98-45 opening-day win over MSU Northern.

Montana will host North Dakota on Sunday, Nov. 20, before heading to Southern California and Loyola Marymount's tournament. The team's matchup against Cal on Friday, Nov. 25, will be its first against a Pac-12 opponent since hosting Arizona in 2019-20.

All of which will serve as a prelude for an exciting December lineup of games. The three NCAA tournament opponents Montana will face will all come on the road: at Washington State on Friday, Dec. 2; at South Dakota on Sunday, Dec. 11; and at Gonzaga on Wednesday, Dec. 21.

Washington State has made back-to-back trips to the NCAA tournament, South Dakota went 29-6 last year and advanced to the Sweet 16, where only a three-point loss to Michigan kept the Coyotes from making the Elite 8, and Gonzaga has played in 12 of the last 13 NCAA tournaments.

The women's game at Gonzaga will come one night after the Montana men's team faces the Bulldogs in Spokane.

Sprinkled into that December schedule are home games against Grand Canyon, which won 22 games last season and made the WNIT, and Montana Tech.

"This is a much tougher schedule than last year, just in quality of teams," said Holsinger. "Any time you have a tougher schedule, there are more chances to lose and more chances to face adversity, and I don't think that's bad."

Montana will open its Big Sky Conference schedule with games at Eastern Washington and Idaho on Dec. 29 and 31.

Montana returns first-team All-Big Sky selection Carmen Gfeller, who led the Lady Griz in scoring last season at 13.9 points on 51.4 percent shooting.

Sammy Fatkin (12.6/g) returns, as does starter Haley Huard and letter-winners Katerina Tsineke and Dani Bartsch.

Holsinger added impact transfer Gina Marxen, a two-time All-Big Sky guard at Idaho, in the spring. Keeli Burton-Oliver joined the team last winter and began working out with the Lady Griz late in the season.

Willa Albrecht and Lisa Kiefer are back, and Holsinger's second team has five true freshmen.

"Compared to last year, our culture has taken a huge step forward. The players know our philosophies and what to expect from us and what we want to do," said Holsinger.

"Because of that, I wanted to have a little tougher schedule and see how we handle it and how that prepares us for the Big Sky Conference."

University of Montana Athletics

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Players Mentioned

Willa Albrecht

Dani Bartsch

Keeli Burton-Oliver

Sammy Fatkin

Carmen Gfeller

Haley Huard

Lisa Kiefer

Gina Marxen

Katerina Tsineke

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