Lady Griz fall to Bobcats 72-63

Saturday, January 21

Missoula, Mont.

2 PM

Montana

8-11, 4-4BSC

Montana State

13-7, 6-2BSC

Montana St.

Montana

Photo by: UM Photo/Tommy Martino

1/21/2023 6:13:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Photo Gallery

By: Montana Sports Information

Darian White scored a game-high 22 points and Montana State used a big third quarter to pull away from Montana and win 72-63 at Dahlberg Arena in Missoula on Saturday afternoon.

The Bobcats led 37-35 at the half, then outscored the Lady Griz 15-2 to start the second half.

Montana State, which built a pair of 19-point leads in the third quarter, led by at least nine the final 17 minutes of the game to defeat the Lady Griz for the eighth time in the teams' last nine matchups.

Montana was led by its dynamic freshman guards, who combined to score 41 points on 13-of-26 shooting off the bench.

Libby Stump scored a season-high 21 points, hitting four 3-pointers. Mack Konig added 20, also a season high, going a perfect 4 for 4 from 3-point range.

"Credit to our two freshmen. They came and competed right. When I recruited them, I knew they would," said coach Brian Holsinger. "They came out with fire in their eyes."

Montana got off to a slow start for the third consecutive time at home.

The Lady Griz fell behind Northern Colorado 11-0 in a game they rallied to win 82-60, then fell behind 10-0 against Eastern Washington in Monday's 87-60 loss.

Montana State, playing with the calm confidence of its senior point guard, got up by scores of 10-4 and 18-8 in the first quarter.

That's when the two freshmen, who subbed on in the back half of the opening period, made their presence felt.

Stump hit a 3-pointer, Konig finished a strong drive to the basket, and Stump hit another 3-pointer, as Montana closed the first quarter on an 8-0 run to make it 18-16 at the first break.

Konig had 12 at the half, Stump 11 to keep Montana within two at halftime, 37-35.

"They play right. That's our first recruiting class here. I couldn't be more proud of them. We've got more coming," said Holsinger.

The game's other storyline was the struggles of Montana's experienced upperclassmen.

Carmen Gfeller, who had the game of her life when Montana defeated Montana State in Missoula last year, scoring 34 points, picked up her second foul less than six minutes into the game and was quiet the rest of the afternoon.

She scored just two points on two free throws, missing on all four of her field goal attempts. Sammy Fatkin had six points on 1-of-7 shooting. Gina Marxen, a fourth-year junior, went 3 for 11.

"You can't have performances like that from your three seniors and expect to win a game like this. You just can't," said Holsinger.

"We have to figure out ways to play the right way and with the right mindset. When you have your three older players not play the right way, it just doesn't work. We've got to have everybody doing that."

Montana turned the ball over 13 seconds into the second half, Gfeller missed a lay-in off a sweet feed from Fatkin on the next possession, and Montana State jumped on the opportunity to pull away.

The Lady Griz had seven turnovers in the third quarter and didn't hit their first basket of the second half until just 1:12 remained in the period.

By that time, Montana State had built a 19-point lead. "Whatever I said at halftime, I'm going to throw that speech away, because it didn't work," said Holsinger.

Trailing 67-51 early in the fourth quarter, Montana held Montana State scoreless for the next four minutes, which allowed the Lady Griz to pull within nine on a Konig 3-pointer and Stump jumper.

But White had the answer. Her pull-up jumper in the paint with three minutes left made it 69-58 for her final points of the game.

She hit just her sixth 3-pointer of the season in the game, with the rest of her points coming on pull-ups from 10 to 12 feet from the basket to improve to 3-1 in her career at Dahlberg Arena.

"She made some shots that we wanted her to shoot, and we made it a little too easy a few times, but credit to her," said Holsinger. "She's a senior and wanted to win here. She stepped up."

It's the second straight loss for Montana at Dahlberg Arena as the Lady Griz make it to the midpoint of a four-game home stand.

Montana is 4-5 at home this season, just 2-5 against Division I opponents.

"We've got to figure this out. We're too talented to be throwing away games like this," said Holsinger. "It's disappointing. We're a lot better than we've played."

It doesn't get any easier for Montana (8-11, 4-4 BSC). The Lady Griz host Big Sky leader Sacramento State (15-3, 6-1 BSC) on Thursday, surging Portland State (9-8, 4-3 BSC) on Saturday.

The Vikings, who went winless in league last season, have won four of their last five games and defeated Idaho State at home on Saturday for their second consecutive one-point victory.

After the home stand concludes, Montana plays five of seven on the road.

"I don't think we need to turn the page," said Holsinger. "We need to look at it and look in the mirror, including me, and say, what's going wrong? And then figure it out.

"That's my job, that's our players' job, to figure it out, because this is not okay in this program. It's just not okay."