Montana rallies, wins in Pocatello

Saturday, January 14

Pocatello, Idaho

2 PM

Montana

8-9, 4-2BSC

Idaho State

8-8, 3-2BSC

Montana

Idaho St.

Photos: Idaho State Athletics

1/14/2023 6:05:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

By: Montana Sports Information

The Montana women's basketball team, trailing by 11 in the third quarter and by seven entering the fourth, stormed back for a 77-68 victory over Idaho State on Saturday afternoon at Reed Gym in Pocatello.

The Lady Griz (8-9, 4-2 BSC), who extended their winning streak to a season-high three games, outscored the Bengals (8-8, 3-2 BSC) 24-8 in the final period to win in Pocatello for the first time since 2015.

The victory also snapped Montana's six-game losing streak against Idaho State.

"Our kids did not waver. They gutted it out," said Brian Holsinger, whose program collected its first sweep of a Big Sky Conference road trip under the second-year coach. The Lady Griz won 67-64 in overtime at Weber State on Thursday night.

Montana, facing the Big Sky's top defensive team, shot well throughout – 48.1 percent in the first half, 56.5 in the second, 52.0 percent for the game – but still trailed 60-53 after three quarters.

In the end it was Montana's defense that came up huge and fueled the comeback. The Lady Griz held Idaho State, which was shooting 48.0 percent through three quarters, to 3-of-20 shooting in the fourth.

Montana scored the first 10 points of the final period to take the lead, and the Lady Griz never looked back.

"We've lost a ton of games in the fourth quarter that have been close or we've had the lead. In the fourth quarter we executed better, we got stops, we got the rebounds we wanted when we needed them," said Holsinger.

"I'm proud of our kids. They battled their butts off to come back in a tough environment. We're getting tougher. In the second half we buckled down and made it tough on them, especially at the end."

Sammy Fatkin scored a career-high 28 points, Carmen Gfeller, who reached 1,000 career points in the first half, the 35th player in program history to do so, had 16, and Gina Marxen totaled 15 points, seven assists and four rebounds.

With an ailing Keeli Burton-Oliver limited to 13 minutes, Dani Bartsch came through in a big way, her impact over 21 minutes far outweighing her seemingly quiet stat line of no points and five rebounds.

"We had some huge, huge, huge performances from people," said Holsinger.

The biggest came from Fatkin, who was just 2 for 17 in Thursday's win but still had a career-high 12 rebounds and three assists against the Wildcats.

She scored nine points in the first quarter on Saturday to spark Montana in a building where the Lady Griz have long underperformed. Then, with the game hanging in the balance, she scored 12 in the fourth quarter to rally her team to the victory.

"Everybody has an off night. We talk about not letting it take over the next game, just doing the next right thing, focusing on making that next moment great," Fatkin said.

The game played out like no one would have expected.

Montana shot well from the start against a team allowing its opponents to shoot 34.3 percent this season and score just 54.8 points per game.

On the offensive end, Idaho State was averaging 56.4 points this season and making just five 3-pointers per game.

Naturally it was 26-20 in favor of Idaho State after the first quarter, with the Bengals, whose season high was eight triples, hitting four 3-pointers.

Idaho State was 6 for 14 from the arc in the first half. That, along with Montana's six missed free throws, gave the Bengals a 42-36 halftime lead.

Idaho State scored the opening five points of the third quarter to go up 47-36 and led 54-44 at the media timeout, 60-53 at period's end.

The game almost had to be won, if it was going to be, at the start of the fourth quarter, and Montana did just that.

Burton-Oliver scored, Gfeller scored and Marxen scored to make it 60-59 just 71 seconds in. Fatkin made it an 8-0 run with a strong drive and finish, sending an ISU player to the floor and turning the tables on the physical Bengals.

That gave Montana the lead for good, as Idaho State went 0 for 6 with two turnovers the first four minutes of the fourth quarter.

"We're really locking in to finding our defensive identity," said Fatkin. "We preach in every huddle about consistency and having the resolve and the grit to make it happen. I feel like we did that really well today.

"We made every possession count, and it was definitely a together effort. We found a way together to get it done. We gritted it out on defense and that just fed our offense."

Callie Bourne, who led Idaho State with 22 points, eight assists, seven rebounds and two steals, scored Idaho State's first points of the fourth quarter at the 5:44 mark to make it 63-62.

That's when Fatkin hit the shot of the game, a 3-pointer on the left wing, right in front of her teammates on the bench to make it 66-62. It sent a message to both teams: We're doing this.

After four Marxen free throws, Fatkin, who played all 10 minutes of the final period, connected on another 3-pointer to make it 73-64. Ball game.

"I went to sub her in the fourth quarter, to give her a quick break, and she's like, keep me in the game, we're going to win this sucker," said Holsinger. "I'm like, okay, you convinced me. She proved to be really tough mentally and in every way."

Montana ended up putting 77 points on Idaho State, which was notable. It was the most points scored against the Bengals this season, two more than USC scored and on ISU's home floor, no less.

The Lady Griz last scored 77 points on the Bengals in 2015, and it matched the most points Montana has ever scored against an Idaho State team coached by Seton Sobolewski, who has been at ISU since 2008.

Montana's quarter shooting percentages told the story: 46.7, 50.0, 53.8, 60.0. The Lady Griz just kept coming and coming and coming.

After Idaho State hit its first two 3-point attempts of the third quarter – the Bengals were 8 for 16 from the arc at that point – they would not connect from distance again, missing their final 10 attempts.

That forced Idaho State to score from inside, where Montana mostly held 6-foot-3 Laura Bello in check. She had 14 points and nine rebounds, but she shot 6 for 18.

Overshadowed by her points milestone was the work Gfeller, undersized in this particular matchup but never out-toughed, did against Bello.

"That kid is super tough. She battled in the post on defense," said Holsinger about his fifth-year senior. "(Bello) is a good player, and (Gfeller) made it hard for her to score. That was big-time defense."

Montana will have a quick turnaround, hosting Eastern Washington (9-6, 2-3 BSC) on Monday at 7 p.m. in Missoula, the first of two Monday games for the Lady Griz during league.

The Eagles picked up their second Big Sky win on Saturday, outscoring Idaho 39-22 in the second half to win 74-59 in Cheney.

Montana defeated Eastern Washington 81-70 when the teams met in Cheney on Dec. 29 to open league.