Photo by: Ryan Brennecke/ University of Mo
Lady Griz to host Saint Martin’s on Wednesday
10/30/2023 3:49:00 PM | Women's Basketball
The Montana women's basketball team, which is one week out from its regular-season opener against Gonzaga, will host Saint Martin's at 7 p.m. on Wednesday in Dahlberg Arena in its lone exhibition game of the preseason.
The Lady Griz traveled to Sheridan, Wyo., over the weekend and faced Wyoming of the Mountain West Conference in a closed-door scrimmage.
Coverage: Wednesday's game will have radio coverage on KGRZ (92.7 FM/1450 AM or kgrzmissoula.com) with Ace Sauerwein on the call. The game will not be streamed on ESPN+ or have live stats available.
Make it a double: Fans are invited to attend a free screening of "Native Ball: Legacy of a Trailblazer" on Wednesday at the University Center Theater. The event starts with a social at 5 p.m. The 30-minute film will start at 6 p.m. with a panel discussion to follow.
The film tells the story of Malia Kipp, who became the first female tribal member from the state of Montana to play Division I basketball, which she did for the Lady Griz in the mid-90s.
Kipp and more than a dozen former Lady Griz are expected to be at the premiere. The film was produced by former Lady Griz Megan Harrington, who produced the documentary "The House That Rob Built."
Last year (Montana): The Lady Griz went 14-16 last season, their second under coach Brian Holsinger, and finished fifth in the Big Sky Conference with a 10-8 league record. No. 5 Montana lost its opening game of the postseason, falling 72-64 to No. 4 Eastern Washington in the Big Sky quarterfinals in Boise.
Last year (Saint Martin's): The NCAA Division II Saints went 10-16 a year ago and finished ninth out of 10 teams in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference, going 6-12 in league. At the end of the season, sixth-year coach Christy Martin stepped down.
This year (Montana): With four starters back, Montana was picked third in the Big Sky Conference preseason coaches' poll. Three-time All-Big Sky selection Carmen Gfeller, who enters the season with 1,179 career points, was voted preseason All-Big Sky for the third time in her career.
This year (Saint Martin's): The Saints in July announced Natalie Marlowe, formerly at Hartnell (Calif.) College, as the program's new head coach. Saint Martin's was picked eighth out of 10 teams in the GNAC preseason poll, ahead of Western Oregon and Alaska-Fairbanks.
Summary: Montana played its first opponent of the preseason on Saturday afternoon when the Lady Griz faced Wyoming in a closed-door scrimmage in Sheridan.
The Cowgirls, who went 23-11 last season, played in the Mountain West Conference title game and advanced to the WNIT, were picked third in the Mountain West preseason poll behind two-time defending champion UNLV and Colorado State.
"It was perfect. It was what we wanted and exactly what we needed," said Holsinger. "We're going to learn a lot from the film. You don't really learn those things until you play somebody else.
"They make you defend for a long time, a lot like Idaho State. If you have a breakdown, they'll get you, so it was perfect from that standpoint."
Montana will practice on Monday and Tuesday, then host Saint Martin's on Wednesday as the calendar turns to November, or the opening month of the season.
"How we respond to what we need to fix and how we respond to that on Wednesday will tell us a lot as we get to November," said Holsinger.
Senior guard Anjel Galbraith, who played two seasons at Purdue University Northwest before transferring to Saint Martin's, averaged 15.4 points and 5.6 assists last year in her first season as a Saint. She was named second-team All-GNAC.
Sophomore guard Kiana Rios (11.8 ppg), junior forward Rian Clear (10.3 ppg) and redshirt junior guard Lauryn Morris (9.7 ppg, 6.1 rpg) also return for Saint Martin's, which had a scrimmage against Yakima Valley College on Friday.
Montana notes:
* The Lady Griz return four starters in 2023-24, graduate student Carmen Gfeller, fifth-year senior Gina Marxen, junior Dani Bartsch and sophomore Mack Konig, last year's Big Sky Freshman of the Year.
* Montana returns more than 80 percent of its scoring from a team that averaged 70.3 points last season, the first time since 2007-08 that the Lady Griz averaged more than 70 points per game.
* Gfeller, in her sixth year in the program, is a three-time All-Big Sky selection. She earned third-team honors as a sophomore, first-team as a junior, second-team last season.
* Marxen (1,276) and Gfeller (1,179) both enter the season with more than 1,000 collegiate points scored.
* Montana made 238 3-pointers last season, one off the program record. The players who accounted for 209 of those makes return.
* Junior guard Haley Huard (19), redshirt sophomore Keeli Burton-Oliver (17) and sophomore Alex Pirog (2) also made starts for Montana last season.
* Libby Stump ranked fourth on the team in scoring last season (10.0/g). She became Montana's first true freshman since Hollie Tyler in 2001-02 to play a full season and average 10 points.
* Montana added three transfers last spring: fifth-year guard Maggie Espenmiller-McGraw (Iowa State), redshirt junior center Imogen Greenslade (Arizona State) and junior guard MJ Bruno (Portland).
* The Lady Griz added true freshmen Macy Donarski (La Crosse, Wis.), Macey Huard (Highlands Ranch, Colo.) and Adria Lincoln (Monroe, Wash.).
* Montana will play five of its first six regular-season games at home, beginning next Monday when the Lady Griz host West Coast Conference favorite Gonzaga.
* Montana will host Washington State in its next game, on Tuesday, Nov. 14. The Cougars won the Pac-12 tournament title last season and were picked fifth this year behind Utah, UCLA, Stanford and Colorado.
* Washington State will open the season ranked No. 24 in the AP Poll, Gonzaga among the others receiving votes, or essentially No. 31. Both teams are outside the top 25 in the WBCA/USA Today poll, Gonzaga at No. 29, Washington State at No. 30.
* Montana will play at Grand Canyon on Monday, Nov. 20, then won't face another road game until playing at Cal Poly and at San Diego's tournament prior to Christmas.
* In offseason coaching news, Nate Harris was elevated to associate head coach, Joslyn Tinkle to recruiting coordinator. Both have been with Holsinger since Year 1.
* Lindsey Foster and Tiffany Stubbs joined Holsinger's staff as assistant coaches.
The Lady Griz traveled to Sheridan, Wyo., over the weekend and faced Wyoming of the Mountain West Conference in a closed-door scrimmage.
Coverage: Wednesday's game will have radio coverage on KGRZ (92.7 FM/1450 AM or kgrzmissoula.com) with Ace Sauerwein on the call. The game will not be streamed on ESPN+ or have live stats available.
Make it a double: Fans are invited to attend a free screening of "Native Ball: Legacy of a Trailblazer" on Wednesday at the University Center Theater. The event starts with a social at 5 p.m. The 30-minute film will start at 6 p.m. with a panel discussion to follow.
The film tells the story of Malia Kipp, who became the first female tribal member from the state of Montana to play Division I basketball, which she did for the Lady Griz in the mid-90s.
Kipp and more than a dozen former Lady Griz are expected to be at the premiere. The film was produced by former Lady Griz Megan Harrington, who produced the documentary "The House That Rob Built."
Last year (Montana): The Lady Griz went 14-16 last season, their second under coach Brian Holsinger, and finished fifth in the Big Sky Conference with a 10-8 league record. No. 5 Montana lost its opening game of the postseason, falling 72-64 to No. 4 Eastern Washington in the Big Sky quarterfinals in Boise.
Last year (Saint Martin's): The NCAA Division II Saints went 10-16 a year ago and finished ninth out of 10 teams in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference, going 6-12 in league. At the end of the season, sixth-year coach Christy Martin stepped down.
This year (Montana): With four starters back, Montana was picked third in the Big Sky Conference preseason coaches' poll. Three-time All-Big Sky selection Carmen Gfeller, who enters the season with 1,179 career points, was voted preseason All-Big Sky for the third time in her career.
This year (Saint Martin's): The Saints in July announced Natalie Marlowe, formerly at Hartnell (Calif.) College, as the program's new head coach. Saint Martin's was picked eighth out of 10 teams in the GNAC preseason poll, ahead of Western Oregon and Alaska-Fairbanks.
Summary: Montana played its first opponent of the preseason on Saturday afternoon when the Lady Griz faced Wyoming in a closed-door scrimmage in Sheridan.
The Cowgirls, who went 23-11 last season, played in the Mountain West Conference title game and advanced to the WNIT, were picked third in the Mountain West preseason poll behind two-time defending champion UNLV and Colorado State.
"It was perfect. It was what we wanted and exactly what we needed," said Holsinger. "We're going to learn a lot from the film. You don't really learn those things until you play somebody else.
"They make you defend for a long time, a lot like Idaho State. If you have a breakdown, they'll get you, so it was perfect from that standpoint."
Montana will practice on Monday and Tuesday, then host Saint Martin's on Wednesday as the calendar turns to November, or the opening month of the season.
"How we respond to what we need to fix and how we respond to that on Wednesday will tell us a lot as we get to November," said Holsinger.
Senior guard Anjel Galbraith, who played two seasons at Purdue University Northwest before transferring to Saint Martin's, averaged 15.4 points and 5.6 assists last year in her first season as a Saint. She was named second-team All-GNAC.
Sophomore guard Kiana Rios (11.8 ppg), junior forward Rian Clear (10.3 ppg) and redshirt junior guard Lauryn Morris (9.7 ppg, 6.1 rpg) also return for Saint Martin's, which had a scrimmage against Yakima Valley College on Friday.
Montana notes:
* The Lady Griz return four starters in 2023-24, graduate student Carmen Gfeller, fifth-year senior Gina Marxen, junior Dani Bartsch and sophomore Mack Konig, last year's Big Sky Freshman of the Year.
* Montana returns more than 80 percent of its scoring from a team that averaged 70.3 points last season, the first time since 2007-08 that the Lady Griz averaged more than 70 points per game.
* Gfeller, in her sixth year in the program, is a three-time All-Big Sky selection. She earned third-team honors as a sophomore, first-team as a junior, second-team last season.
* Marxen (1,276) and Gfeller (1,179) both enter the season with more than 1,000 collegiate points scored.
* Montana made 238 3-pointers last season, one off the program record. The players who accounted for 209 of those makes return.
* Junior guard Haley Huard (19), redshirt sophomore Keeli Burton-Oliver (17) and sophomore Alex Pirog (2) also made starts for Montana last season.
* Libby Stump ranked fourth on the team in scoring last season (10.0/g). She became Montana's first true freshman since Hollie Tyler in 2001-02 to play a full season and average 10 points.
* Montana added three transfers last spring: fifth-year guard Maggie Espenmiller-McGraw (Iowa State), redshirt junior center Imogen Greenslade (Arizona State) and junior guard MJ Bruno (Portland).
* The Lady Griz added true freshmen Macy Donarski (La Crosse, Wis.), Macey Huard (Highlands Ranch, Colo.) and Adria Lincoln (Monroe, Wash.).
* Montana will play five of its first six regular-season games at home, beginning next Monday when the Lady Griz host West Coast Conference favorite Gonzaga.
* Montana will host Washington State in its next game, on Tuesday, Nov. 14. The Cougars won the Pac-12 tournament title last season and were picked fifth this year behind Utah, UCLA, Stanford and Colorado.
* Washington State will open the season ranked No. 24 in the AP Poll, Gonzaga among the others receiving votes, or essentially No. 31. Both teams are outside the top 25 in the WBCA/USA Today poll, Gonzaga at No. 29, Washington State at No. 30.
* Montana will play at Grand Canyon on Monday, Nov. 20, then won't face another road game until playing at Cal Poly and at San Diego's tournament prior to Christmas.
* In offseason coaching news, Nate Harris was elevated to associate head coach, Joslyn Tinkle to recruiting coordinator. Both have been with Holsinger since Year 1.
* Lindsey Foster and Tiffany Stubbs joined Holsinger's staff as assistant coaches.
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