Eagles overwhelm Lady Griz

Monday, January 16

Missoula, Mont.

7 PM

Montana

8-10, 4-3BSC

Eastern Washington

10-6, 3-3BSC

Eastern Wash.

Montana

Photo by: UM Photo/Tommy Martino

1/16/2023 10:25:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Photo Gallery

By: Montana Sports Information

Eastern Washington, led by Jaydia Martin's 33 points, scored early and often on Monday night and rolled to a surprisingly one-sided 87-60 victory over Montana at Dahlberg Arena in Missoula.

The Eagles shot 12 for 18 in the first quarter, 63.6 percent for the first half and built a 34-point lead in the third quarter.

It was Eastern Washington's largest margin of victory in 102 meetings between the two schools. In the Eagles' previous 25 wins over Montana, only five had come by more than 10 points.

"I apologize to our fans. I didn't have our team ready to play. It's on me. I didn't have them ready to play at all," said second-year coach Brian Holsinger, whose team was coming off a road sweep of Weber State and Idaho State on Thursday and Saturday.

"I'm not into excuses. I could care less if that's our third game in five days. You're at home. You have to have more pride than that. Ultimately I'll take responsibility."

When the teams met in Cheney on Dec. 29, it was Montana that got off to a fast start and never trailed in an 81-70 victory.

Eighteen days later, the Eagles hit five of their first six shots and never looked back. That Eastern Washington's first seven baskets came without an assist told the story.

The Eagles were in attack mode from the opening tip, which naturally they won. Seventeen seconds into the game, Martin scored and Eastern Washington never gave the lead back.

"They came in and punched us in the mouth and our starting group just wasn't ready to play," said Holsinger, whose team was down 48-25 at the break.

"That's super disappointing and I apologize to our fans. I would have left at halftime based on how we were playing. Whether we made shots or not, there was no energy, there was nothing."

Martin scored 13 points in the second quarter and had 21 by halftime on 9-of-12 shooting. She went 3 for 4 from the 3-point line.

"They came out aggressive and we didn't. Then she got confident. You can't let them get confident," said Holsinger.

The loss dropped Montana to 2-4 inside Dahlberg Arena this season against Division I competition, 4-4 overall. Montana was 567-91 on its home floor entering the season.

"This is our home court. That's the part that is just crazy to me. I've pulled out legacy stuff, I've had them watch video of old games, all these things, and they don't seem to understand why it's important to be ready to play in front of these amazing fans," said Holsinger.

"I don't know if we just expected our home crowd to give us energy or something, but every team in this conference is good. You have to come ready to play. Whatever happens, it's on me. I'm the head coach."

Sensing trouble just three minutes into the game, Holsinger went to his bench, and freshman Mack Konig gave the Lady Griz an instant spark.

She scored eight first-quarter points on 4-of-4 shooting on aggressive takes to the basket, but Montana still trailed 26-14 after 10 minutes.

A 3-pointer by freshman Libby Stump, who led the Lady Griz with 14 points, made it 29-20 early in the second quarter, and it felt like Montana had weathered the worst of the storm.

But the storm never broke, never let up. The Eagles closed the half on a 19-5 run to build a 23-point halftime lead.

The lead reached 34 points, 73-39, late in the third quarter on an Eastern Washington 3-pointer.

The Eagles shot 57.1 percent and made an amazing 36 field goals, nearly one per minute. They had 18 assists and only six turnovers. Their starters outscored Montana's starters 73-21.

Stump led the Lady Griz reserves, who got plenty of minutes, with 14 points on 6-of-11 shooting. Konig finished with 11 points, Dani Bartsch had seven points and nine rebounds.

Montana (8-10, 4-3 BSC) will host Montana State (12-7, 5-2 BSC) at 2 p.m. on Saturday. The Bobcats won their third consecutive game on Monday night, defeating Idaho 72-65 in Bozeman.