Lumberjacks rally past Lady Griz

Thursday, January 5

Missoula, Mont.

7 PM

Montana

5-9, 1-2BSC

Northern Arizona

8-8, 2-1BSC

Northern Ariz.

Montana

Photo by: Ryan Brennecke/ University of Mo

1/5/2023 10:36:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Photo Gallery

By: Montana Sports Information

In an early-January game that had the feel of mid-March, Northern Arizona rallied back from a big first-quarter deficit and made some key plays down the stretch to defeat Montana 76-74 at Dahlberg Arena on Thursday night.

It was the first win for the Lumberjacks over the Lady Griz in Missoula since the 2007 Big Sky Conference tournament.

Montana scored the game's opening 10 points and led 22-11 after the first quarter, but a sloppy second period, when the Lady Griz had eight turnovers and shot 5 for 15, allowed Northern Arizona to build a 35-33 halftime lead.

From that point on, the game had a postseason feel. In all, there were 13 ties and 11 lead changes.

Northern Arizona held a slight lead for much of the third period and was up 60-58 early in the fourth quarter when Montana scored six straight points to build a 64-60 lead.

All six points were scored by Carmen Gfeller and Keeli Burton-Oliver, both of whom would foul out and watch the end of the game from the bench as Montana had the final possession but missed a potential game-winning 3-pointer at the buzzer.

Both players were hindered by foul trouble in Saturday's 79-71 loss at Idaho as well.

"Foul trouble continues to plague us," said coach Brian Holsinger. "We have to keep our better kids on the floor, and we haven't been able to do that. That's what causes this to happen."

Northern Arizona answered with six straight points to go up 66-64, Gfeller tied it at the other end, and neither team led by more than two points the final six minutes, until the Lumberjacks went up four in the final minute.

Montana's final lead came when Burton-Oliver, who finished with 15 points on 7-of-12 shooting, scored inside to make it 72-70 with 1:54 to play. It would be Montana's final basket of the game.

NAU freshman Sophie Glancey scored at the other end with 91 seconds left to tie it. With just over a minute left, Montana turned the ball over on an offensive foul, whistled on an illegal screen.

It was another of the little things that combined to make a big difference in the game.

Montana shot 45.2 percent, Northern Arizona 38.5 percent, but the Lumberjacks took 16 more shots than the Lady Griz, who turned the ball over 15 times and got outrebounded by four.

Last week, on the Eastern Washington-Idaho road trip, Montana was +12 on the boards in both games and gave up just five second-chance points on seven offensive rebounds in 80 minutes.

Northern Arizona scored 23 points off Montana turnovers and turned 14 offensive rebounds into 12 second-chance points.

"We got outrebounded, something we just don't do, and we're not playing good enough defense," said Holsinger. "Like I told the team, you have to do more things right, and we're not doing that.

"We outrebounded our first two opponents by 12, then we turn around at home and go minus-four and give up 14 offensive rebounds. You can't do that. It's frustrating."

After Montana's turnover with 1:07 to go, Glancey went through Burton-Oliver on the way to the basket and drew the call. That sent Burton-Oliver to the bench with five fouls and Glancey to the line, where she hit twice to make it 74-72 with 48 seconds left.

After a Montana miss, Montana Oltrogge hit a pair of free throws with 31 seconds left to put the Lumberjacks up 76-72.

But the Lady Griz weren't done. Freshman Alex Pirog hit a pair of pressure-packed free throws with 19 seconds left, and Montana forced a turnover just seconds later to put the game's outcome back in its own hands.

Dani Bartsch grabbed an offensive rebound off a missed shot and a video review gave Holsinger time to draw up a final play.

Freshman Libby Stump got the ball in front of the Lady Griz bench and got a decent look at a 3-pointer, but her end-game heroics will have to wait for another day.

"I really wanted Libby to attack the rim, but I trust that kid," said Holsinger. "She's made big shots for us already as a freshman."

Oltrogge grabbed the rebound, the clock ran out, and the Lumberjacks were able to do something they've never been able to do before: celebrate their third consecutive win over the Lady Griz.

NAU defeated Montana last season in Flagstaff and again in the quarterfinals of the Big Sky tournament in Boise.

Montana did some nice defensive work on Northern Arizona's four leading scorers, holding them to 15-of-55 (.273) shooting, with Oltrogge finishing with 15 points and 11 rebounds and Regan Schenck totaling 10 points and nine assists.

The difference came from Fatoumata Jaiteh, who had 14 points and eight rebounds in 15 minutes, and Glancey, who had 22 points on 10-of-12 shooting off the bench. She entered the game averaging 9.9 points.

"She had a huge game. She hurt us inside. We didn't do a good job executing the game plan against her. She was a huge factor," said Holsinger.

Burton-Oliver and Gfeller led Montana with 15 points each, though they played just 45 minutes between them.

Gfeller picked up two fouls in the game's first seven minutes and didn't step on the court in the critical second period, when Northern Arizona fought its way back into the game.

Gina Marxen had 13 points on 5-of-8 shooting and four assists, and Stump came off the bench to add 12, her ninth time this season in double figures.

Montana will host Northern Colorado (8-6, 1-2 BSC) on Saturday at 2 p.m. The Bears lost 61-40 at Montana State on Thursday night.