Lady Griz get their shot at defending Big Sky champions

The Montana women's basketball team will host Montana State on Saturday afternoon as the Lady Griz and Bobcats meet for the first time this season.

The game will tip off at 2 p.m. inside Dahlberg Arena.

The Bobcats (12-7, 5-2 BSC) won the Big Sky Conference tournament title in Boise in March and, with four starters returning from that team, were the heavy favorites in this year's preseason polls.

Montana (8-10, 4-3 BSC) was picked second behind Montana State in both the preseason coaches' and media polls.

The teams will square off in Bozeman on Saturday, Feb. 18.

Coverage: Saturday's game will on air on MTN/Scripps and on ESPN+, with Tom Wylie, Krista Redpath and Kyle Hansen on the broadcast. Riley Corcoran will be on the local call on KMPT 930 AM/99.7 FM.

At a glance (Montana): The Lady Griz, who are one game into a four-game home stand, are 8-10 overall and sitting in fifth place in the Big Sky at 4-3.

After sweeping the Weber State-Idaho State road trip last week, the first league road sweep for Montana under second-year coach Brian Holsinger, Montana lost 87-60 at home on Monday night to Eastern Washington.

At a glance (Montana State): The Bobcats, on their first three-game winning streak of the season, are 12-7 and, at 5-2, in second place in the Big Sky behind league leader Sacramento State, which is 4-1.

Like Montana, Montana State swept Idaho State and Weber State last week, pulling out a close 60-57 win in Pocatello and outscoring the Wildcats 80-65. The Bobcats made it three in a row with a 72-65 home win over Idaho on Monday night.

MSU fell behind 64-63 at the 3:56 mark of the fourth quarter, then held the Vandals without a basket the rest of the way. Katelynn Limardo scored seven of Montana State's final nine points to close out the game.

Summary:

It's been an unusual week and a half for Montana.

The Lady Griz fell behind 11-0 at home against Northern Colorado two Saturdays ago, then dominated for the next 25 minutes, outscoring the Bears 61-26 through the end of the third quarter, on their way to an 82-60 win.

Montana won ugly at Weber State on Thursday, 67-64 in overtime, on a night the Lady Griz shot 31.1 percent and turned the ball over 20 times. Montana was able to get through regulation tied, then hit four of six shots in overtime to finally pull away.

Two days later, at Idaho State, where Montana hadn't won since 2015, the Lady Griz fell behind by 11 in the third quarter and trailed 60-53 entering the fourth.

Then Montana played its best 10 minutes of the season. The Lady Griz outscored the Bengals 24-8 in the period, holding ISU to 3-of-20 shooting, to rally for a 77-68 victory and snap a six-game losing streak against Idaho State.

Montana shot 52.0 percent for the game. Idaho State had only allowed one of its previous 15 opponents this season to shoot even 40 percent. And that was USC, the team that just knocked off No. 2 Stanford. The Trojans managed to shoot 42.6 percent against the Bengals.

The last time a Big Sky team shot better than Montana did on Saturday inside Reed Gym was Eastern Washington in January 2015.

Montana was rolling, winner of three straight. Then Monday night happened.

The Eastern Washington team Montana had defeated 81-70 in Cheney back on Dec. 29 to open league, raced out to a 10-0 lead and never looked back.

The Eagles hit 12 of their 18 shots in the first quarter, led 48-25 at the half and were 32 for 50 (.640) through three quarters, when they built a shocking 34-point lead. At that point, Eastern Washington was averaging more than one made basket per minute. The final score was 87-60.

It was the most points allowed by Montana since a 92-72 loss at Idaho in 2020-21 and the second-most points ever allowed by the Lady Griz inside Dahlberg Arena, the most since Oregon won 89-57 back in 1980-81.

Eastern Washington shot 57.1 percent, the highest percentage Montana has allowed since South Dakota shot 58.5 percent in Vermillion in 2019-20 in a 96-64 win. It was the highest shooting percentage by an opponent inside Dahlberg Arena since Idaho went 32 for 53 (.604) in 1984-85.

It was Eastern Washington's 26th win in a series of 102 games, the Eagles' ninth win in Missoula in 54 tries and EWU's largest margin of victory in its 26 wins over Montana. It was quite a few days.

"It's been really good and really bad recently," said Holsinger. "We went from playing probably one of our best quarters of the season, doing the right things, the intensity, the urgency, finishing plays, being aggressive, to playing our worst game by far, in every way, a day or so later.

"It was an interesting up-and-down situation. We hadn't played three games in five days this season. I learned a lot about our team, how we might handle it differently next time, since we have one more of those. It was some really good moments of getting where we want to go, then a weird Monday."

Eastern Washington's Jaydia Martin had 21 points at the half and finished with 33. It was the third 30-point scoring game allowed by Montana this season. (North Dakota's Kacie Borowicz scored 35, Idaho's Beyonce Bea scored 32.)

Montana has allowed three 30-point scorers in a season just three times in program history, in 1980-81, in 2018-19 and this year.

The Lady Griz will try to work through all of that as they prepare to face the Bobcats on Saturday.

"That's my job. That's what I get paid to do, to push the right buttons, to do the right things to have our team ultimately ready for Saturday," said Holsinger. "What happened on Monday, yes, you have to look at it. How much do you look at it and how quickly do you move on?"

The result, like Portland State's road win at Northern Arizona last week, shows the growing balance and strength of the Big Sky from top to bottom. Who's atop the league but Sacramento State, a program that's usually been an afterthought. No more.

"It's better," said Holsinger of the league. "On any given night, anybody can beat anybody. You have good coaches, and that makes it harder and harder. You have to be more focused.

"It only helps us improve and helps us get better. Our goal is just to keep getting better as a team."

The loss dropped Montana to 2-4 at home this season against Division I opponents, 4-4 overall. The Lady Griz went 12-3 at home last season in their first year under Holsinger.

Montana lost four or more games at home the five seasons prior to last year, but historically those are still outliers. The Lady Griz didn't lose more than three games at Dahlberg Arena in any season from 1981-82 to 2010-11.

"One of the core tenants of our team this year, that they came up with, is legacy. The legacy of the Lady Griz and what does that mean?" said Holsinger.

"One part of that is that we have to protect home court. We haven't really done that this year. I'm trying to help them understand that and what that means."

And now Montana faces Montana State, a team that had defeated the Lady Griz seven straight times before February's feel-good 71-57 home win.

Montana State has its headliners. Senior point guard Darian White is a two-time first-team All-Big Sky selection and senior forward Kola Bad Bear was third-team all-league last season. Both were named Preseason All-Big Sky in October.

White is having another MVP-level season. She is averaging 11.9 points and 5.7 rebounds per game, both team highs, and she leads Montana State in assists with 71 against just 36 turnovers.

Despite losing 73-59 to the Bobcats in Bozeman, Montana did good work on both players during last season's matchups.

They were 5 for 22 and combined to score 20 points in Bozeman. They were 3 for 19 for 14 points in Missoula.

Montana State's win in Bozeman was sparked by Taylor Janssen off the bench. She hit all four of her 3-point attempts and went 5 for 6 overall for 14 points.

Lexi Deden scored 14 points off the bench in the rematch in Missoula, but it wasn't enough to overcome Montana State's 32.8 percent shooting as a team.

"We did a good job last year, just limiting some of their better players," said Holsinger. "You can't guard everybody, but you try to take away their strengths as best you can, then you adjust to people on the fly if someone does something unusual."

In last year's game in Bozeman, Montana had two turnovers in the game's opening 30 seconds, and the Lady Griz never looked in sync.

After a low-scoring first quarter in Missoula, the Lady Griz won the second quarter, went up by 17 in the third and won 71-57 in what will be known as the Carmen Gfeller Game.

Gfeller scored 34 points on just 16 shots, going 11 for 16, 5 for 7 from the arc and 7 for 8 from the free throw line.

It was the second-most points ever scored by a Montana player against Montana State and tied for the 13th-most points scored in program history.

"They are really aggressive. You have to go at them. The big difference between the first game and our game here was we were the aggressors. We were the ones going at them," said Holsinger.

"The bottom line is it's a war, but you have to take some of the emotion out. It's a balance between emotion and execution. As a coach you're trying to find that balance."

Series history:

* Montana leads the all-time series 80-34. The Lady Griz have a winning record against the Bobcats in Missoula (48-10), in Bozeman (28-21) and in neutral-site games (4-3).

* Montana State's win in Bozeman last season extended the Bobcats' winning streak in the series to seven games, the longest winning streak for Montana State in the series.

* Montana's longest winning streak in the series was 23 games from 1979 to 1988.

* Former Lady Griz coach Robin Selvig, for whom the Dahlberg Arena court will be named later this season, went 74-19 against Montana State.

* Of Montana State's 10 wins in Missoula, seven have come since 2010.

Montana notes:

* Montana's win at Weber State on Thursday was its first win in nine games this season when trailing with five minutes left in regulation, its first win in eight games when trailing with two minutes left in regulation.

* Montana had season highs in free throws made (23), free throw attempts (27) and rebounds (50) at Weber State.

* Sammy Fatkin's 28 points in Saturday's win at Idaho State were a career high and the most scored by a Lady Griz this season. It was her fifth game this season scoring at least 20 points.

* Fatkin grabbed a career-high 12 rebounds at Weber State, the most by a Montana player this season.

* Carmen Gfeller's streak of seven consecutive double-digit scoring games came to an end on Monday when she scored six on just six shot attempts.

* Gina Marxen had made 21 consecutive free throws when she missed the first of two shots in the third quarter on Monday night. She went 9 for 9 at Weber State, 6 for 6 at Idaho State.

* Marxen matched a season high with seven assists on Saturday at Idaho State.

* Mack Konig matched a season high with 11 points on Monday night. She went 5 for 9, hit a 3-pointer, and matched season highs with four rebounds and two steals.

* Konig shot 11 for 22 against Weber State, Idaho State and Eastern Washington, with 26 points scored.

* Alex Pirog missed the games at Weber State and Idaho State because of injury. She returned to play seven minutes against Eastern Washington.

* Libby Stump was held scoreless for the first time this season at Weber State and shot 2 for 11 on the road trip. She bounced back with a team-high 14 points on 6-of-11 shooting on Monday against the Eagles.

* Montana is shooting 41.7 percent this season, allowing its opponents to shoot 41.8.

* In seven Big Sky games, Gfeller is shooting 55.4 percent from the field, 40.9 percent from the 3-point line and 85.7 percent from the free throw line.

* In seven Big Sky games, Marxen has 28 assists against just eight turnovers.

* In its first three home losses this season, to North Dakota State, Grand Canyon and Northern Arizona, Montana held a fourth-quarter lead. The Lady Griz never led in Monday's loss to Eastern Washington.

* Montana is 4-4 at home this season despite shooting a healthy 44.8 percent in those eight games.

* Burton-Oliver, who took just seven total shots against Idaho State, Weber State and Eastern Washington, is 28 for 42 (.667) in league play.

* Eastern Washington's 48 first-half points on Monday were the most points allowed in a half by Montana in two seasons under Holsinger.

* Saturday's win over Idaho State was Montana's third of the season after trailing by 11 or more points. Montana came from 14 down to defeat North Dakota, from 11 down to defeat Northern Colorado and Idaho State.

Montana State notes:

* The Bobcats are 5-3 in true road games this season, with losses at North Texas, at Wyoming and at Idaho.

* Montana State defeated South Dakota State in Bozeman back on Nov. 30, 71-66, back when the Jacks were struggling at 4-4. That win looks better and better by the day. SDSU has since won 10 of 11 and on Saturday doubled up rival South Dakota at Frost Arena in Brookings, 118-59.

* Junior guard Leia Beattie, daughter of former Lady Griz standout Kelly Pilcher, averaged 3.7 points as a freshman, 9.2 as a sophomore. This season she ranks second on the team in scoring behind White at 10.6 per game. She has hit 35 3-pointers and is shooting 39.3 percent from the arc.

* As an indicator of Montana State's depth of scoring weapons, Lexi Deden (16 points) led MSU in scoring at Idaho State, Beattie (26 points on 6-of-10 shooting from the arc) led the team at Weber State, and White had an 18-point, 11-rebound double-double on Monday against Idaho.

* Bad Bear has scored in double figures in four of seven Big Sky games and ranks third on the team in scoring for the season at 8.8 per game. She is followed by Deden at 8.6.

* Grace Beasley, in her first season playing for the Bobcats after transferring from Washington, averages 7.2 points. Upperclassmen Katelynn Limardo averages 6.0 points, Madison Jackson 5.6 points.

* All of them are capable of having a game-changing performance. "They are a tough cover because of that," said Holsinger. "They have a lot of different players, a lot of different combinations. We'll be ready, for sure, to guard them the right way."

* White reached 1,500 career points in Monday's win over Idaho. She also has more than 500 career rebounds, more than 400 career assists.

Around the Big Sky Conference:

* Sacramento State leads the Big Sky at 4-1 after losing 77-67 at Northern Arizona on Saturday. It was the Hornets' first loss since Dec. 7.

* Montana State (5-2), Northern Arizona (4-2) and Idaho State (3-2) are all one game behind Sacramento State in the loss column.

* Montana (4-3), Eastern Washington (3-3) and Portland State (2-3) all have three losses.

* The Vikings went 0-20 in league last season but have a home win over Idaho this season and Thursday's 78-66 win at Northern Arizona.

* Northern Colorado won its Big Sky opener, at home over Weber State, lost its next four, to Idaho State, Montana State, Montana and Sacramento State, all by at least 20 points, then got back in the win column with a 75-56 home win over Portland State on Saturday.

* Idaho opened league with 19- and eight-point home wins over Montana State and Montana. The Vandals have lost four straight since, all on the road. Idaho gets five of its next seven at home, where it is 3-0 this season.

* Weber State has lost nine straight games and hasn't won since Dec. 3.

* Thursday games: UNC at EWU, NAU at UI, WSU at PSU, ISU at SAC … Sacramento State has two of the Big Sky's top five scorers in Kahlaijah Dean (20.4/g) and Isnelle Natabou (16.5/g). Idaho State has the Big Sky's top defense, allowing 56.2 points and 35.3 percent shooting.

* Saturday games: MSU at UM, NAU at EWU, UNC at UI, ISU at PSU, WSU at SAC … Northern Arizona (77.4/g) has the Big Sky's highest-scoring offense. Eastern Washington (72.4/g) ranks second.

Upcoming: Montana will close out its four-game home stand with games next week against Sacramento State and Portland State.

Lady Griz get their shot at defending Big Sky champions

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Players Mentioned

Sammy Fatkin

Carmen Gfeller

Mack Konig

Gina Marxen

Alex Pirog

Libby Stump

University of Montana Athletics