Lady Griz host ranked Cougars Tuesday night

The Montana women's basketball team will return to the court on Tuesday night when it hosts Washington State at 7 p.m. on Robin Selvig Court inside Dahlberg Arena.

The game is the second of the season for the Lady Griz, who play just six games through the season's opening 40 days.

Washington State enters the week ranked 24th in the AP top 25 poll and is the fourth highest among others receiving votes in the USA Today/WBCA coaches' poll. The Cougars will likely get a bump in both polls on Tuesday after last week's overtime home victory over Gonzaga.

Tuesday's matchup will be the 63rd all-time for Montana when facing a ranked opponent. The Lady Griz last defeated a ranked opponent in 2004.

Montana will play at Grand Canyon on Monday, Nov. 20, then will return home to host Dickinson State on Monday, Nov. 27.

Coverage: Tuesday's game will air on ESPN+ and SWX and can be heard on KGRZ (92.7 FM/1450 AM) or KGRZMissoula.com or on the Varsity Network app.

At a glance (Montana): The Lady Griz opened their season last Monday with an 83-70 home loss to Gonzaga, a game that showed everything Montana is (a work in progress) and could be (really good).

Offensively, the Lady Griz put up 70 points without it ever feeling like they got on a roll.

Carmen Gfeller was held without a made field goal for just the second time in her last 80 games played and Macey Huard went 1 for 7 without a 3-point field goal made, numbers that may never be written again in her Montana career.

The Lady Griz went 12 players deep, with a remarkable shot distribution. Seven players took between seven and nine shots, with MJ Bruno's nine being the most taken.

Montana turned the ball over eight times in the first quarter alone but cleaned up its ball security enough to finish with 14 for the game.

After allowing 24 first-quarter points on 50 percent shooting, with Gonzaga going 5 for 8 from the arc, Montana allowed just eight points in the second quarter as the Bulldogs went 3 for 13, 0 for 6 from the arc.

In 132 quarters last season, Gonzaga, while going 28-5, was held to fewer than 10 points in a period just five times. That defensive effort allowed Montana to pull within 32-28 at the half.

Six times in the second half, Montana pulled within one, including early in the fourth quarter, but only once did the Lady Griz have possession down one with a chance to take the lead.

That's how clutch the experienced Bulldogs were, bending but never breaking as Montana outscored the visitors 33-29 over the second and third quarters.

Gonzaga's experience and the fact the Bulldogs have Kaylynne Truong at the point made all the difference in the fourth quarter.

Up 55-54 early in the final period after a Dani Bartsch basket, Gonzaga hit 10 of its first 11 shots to open the fourth quarter and went 11 for 15 overall in the final period to pull away, as Truong scored 14 of her game-high 19 points on 5-of-5 shooting.

Bartsch finished with 18 points on efficient 6-of-7 shooting and 10 rebounds for a sensational season debut, her fifth career double-double, her fourth in 11 games dating back to last season.

Bruno, in her Lady Griz debut after playing two seasons at Portland, scored 12 points in 18 minutes on 5-of-9 shooting. Gina Marxen hit three 3-pointers off the bench to add 11 points, giving her 252 threes for her collegiate career.

Montana quietly hit 10 3-pointers on 38.5 percent shooting from the arc. It was the 56th time in program history the Lady Griz have made 10 or more 3-pointers in a game. Fourteen of those 56 have come under third-year head coach Brian Holsinger.

Montana outrebounded Gonzaga in the first half, holding the Bulldogs to just three offensive rebounds. In the second half, Gonzaga outrebounded Montana 21-11. Eleven of those Bulldog rebounds came on the offensive end, which led to 11 second-chance points.

Remarkably, Montana did not have a defensive rebound in the fourth quarter. Gonzaga went 11 for 15. All four of the Bulldogs' misses were followed by offensive rebounds that ultimately led to points. Three Gonzaga turnovers were the only way Montana got the ball back over the final 10 minutes.

Mack Konig had nine points on 4-of-8 shooting and four assists against no turnovers. Maggie Espenmiller-McGraw, in her Lady Griz debut after playing four seasons at Iowa State, hit a pair of 3-pointers and totaled eight points.

Montana vs. ranked opponents: Tuesday night will mark the 63rd time the Lady Griz have faced a ranked opponent. Montana is 12-50 against ranked opponents all-time, 8-11 at home.

The Lady Griz have dropped their last 15 games against ranked opponents, 23 of their last 24 dating back to the mid-90s. The only outlier was a 61-58 home-court victory over No. 24 Utah in January 2004.

Montana's last game against a ranked opponent was an 82-67 road loss at No. 22 Gonzaga last December. Montana's last home game against a ranked opponent was a 77-42 setback against No. 24 Arizona in November 2019.

Montana has never faced Washington State previously when the Cougars have been ranked.

Series history:

* Montana leads the all-time series against Washington State 23-9 and has gone 13-4 at home against the Cougars.

* The Lady Griz had won 22 of the last 23 matchups between the two teams before the Cougars won 77-57 last season in Pullman.

* Twenty-five of the teams' 32 matchups took place in the 70s, 80s and 90s. Tuesday will be only the teams' third meeting since the 2007-08 season.

* Montana and Washington State were four-year conference rivals in the late 70s and early 80s in the old Northwest Women's Basketball League.

* Prior to last season's game in Pullman, the teams' most recent matchup was a 90-78 Montana victory in Missoula in the opening round of the WNIT, when current Lady Griz coach Brian Holsinger was an assistant coach on the Washington State bench.

* In last year's game in Pullman, Montana trailed 40-37 at the half and pulled even at 46-46 midway through the third quarter before a 16-0 Washington State run that extended into the fourth quarter decided things.

* Carmen Gfeller scored 17 points, going 5 for 6 from the arc, to lead Montana. Charlisse Leger-Walker hit six 3-pointers and scored 24 points for the Cougars. Bella Murekatete went 10 for 19 and finished with 21 points.

At a glance (Washington State):

* The Cougars improved to 3-0 on Sunday with a 64-47 home victory over Idaho State, a game Washington State led 38-17 at the half. The Cougars won big despite going 4 for 23 from the 3-point line.

* Washington State opened the season with a 78-61 home win over Cal Poly, a game the Cougars trailed 34-31 at the half. They put up 47 second-half points on 17-of-28 shooting (.607).

* On Thursday, Washington State won a high-profile matchup, 77-72 over Gonzaga in overtime in Pullman. The Cougars built a 10-point fourth-quarter lead but a Kaylynne Truong 3-pointer at the end of regulation sent the game to overtime. Gonzaga went just 1 for 7 in the overtime period.

* Through three games, Bella Murekatete is averaging 14.0 points on 57.1 percent shooting and 7.0 rebounds, Charlisse Leger-Walker 12.7 points and 5.3 assists. She has gone just 2 for 17 from 3-point range after making 68 last season on 34.9 percent shooting.

* Leger-Walker, who has a career high of 40 points, was voted All-Pac-12 as a freshman, sophomore and junior. If she does it again as a senior, she'll become just the 19th player in Pac-12 history to be named all-league four times.

* Leger-Walker, who has 1,503 career points, was named WBCA honorable mention All-American her first three seasons at Washington State.

* Former Northern Colorado coach Kamie Ethridge is in her sixth year as head coach of the Cougars. Washington State has been to four NCAA tournaments in program history, in 1991 and the last three seasons under Ethridge.

* Last season, the Cougars finished seventh in the Pac-12, going 9-9 in league. Washington State then won four games in five days in Las Vegas to win the Pac-12 tournament title, WSU's first Pac-12 title in any female team sport.

* No. 5 Washington State lost to No. 12 Florida Gulf Coast and former Lady Griz Sophia Stiles 74-63 in the opening round of last spring's NCAA tournament at Villanova.

* Ethridge coached at Northern Colorado for four seasons (2014-15 to 2017-18) before being hired away by Washington State after leading the Bears to 88 wins, including a 26-7 campaign and NCAA tournament appearance in her final season at UNC, in 2017-18.

* Ethridge is 6-4 all-time against Montana with five straight wins over the Lady Griz at Northern Colorado and Washington State. She went 1-4 against Robin Selvig, 4-0 against Shannon Schweyen while at UNC and has gone 1-0 against Brian Holsinger since she's taken over at Washington State.

* She is 2-2 all-time at Dahlberg Arena as a head coach, including a loss in the 2015 Big Sky tournament championship game, a game the Bears led by 14 in the second half before Montana closed on a 31-8 run over the final 12 minutes to win 60-49. The Lady Griz haven't been to the NCAA tournament since.

* Washington State's wins total in five years under Ethridge: 9, 11, 12, 19, 23. Four starters returned this season from last year's 23-win team.

* Newcomers for Washington State include freshman Alex Covill, who is a graduate of Missoula's Hellgate High, and Beyonce Bea, a graduate transfer who totaled 1,938 points (16.7/g) and 886 rebounds (7.6/g) in four seasons at Idaho.

* In six career games against Montana while she was at Idaho (she missed the teams' lone matchup in 2020-21), Bea averaged 21.2 points and 8.5 rebounds. Last year she had games of 32 points and nine rebounds in Moscow and 40 points and 12 rebounds in Missoula.

* Bea's 40 points last year in Montana's 85-82 home win came on 17-of-30 shooting. It matched the most points ever scored by an opponent against the Lady Griz. … She was three times voted first-team All-Big Sky, nine times named the Big Sky Player of the Week.

* Montana coach Brian Holsinger was an assistant at Washington State for eight seasons (2007-08 to 2014-15) under then WSU coach June Daugherty. … While Holsinger was an assistant coach at Oregon State, he went 4-2 against Ethridge-coached Washington State teams.

Quoting coach Brian Holsinger:

On his team following the loss to Gonzaga: "I was really happy with how our team responded from watching film and then how we practiced. I was pleased how we responded to losing and to the things we didn't do well that caused the problems. But until you play again and see improvement, it's hard to know."

On Washington State's personnel: "They've played a few more games than us this season and have played a lot of games together over the years. Charlisse and Bella have a lot of experience together and are very good at their positions. Against Gonzaga, Charlisse was the difference-maker. Then Beyonce is certainly experienced as a player."

On Tuesday's keys to the game: "Very simple and similar to Gonzaga. We have to take care of the ball and we have to rebound with them. And we have to cut down on our fouls." (Washington State has taken 64 free throws through three games.)

On bridging the gap to the Gonzagas and Washington States of the world: "Both teams are in that top-25 range. To go from where we are to where they are, it's a big jump. It's having the discipline to do the right things more consistently, executing and playing the right way more than the other team. Down the stretch on Monday, Gonzaga did the right things more than we did. We're getting closer."

Montana notes:

* Carmen Gfeller enters Tuesday's game ranked 19th in program history in scoring with 1,183 points (see page 5 of the PDF notes package for top-20 list). Two of the next three players she'll pass on the list (Cheri Bratt and Skyla Sisco) are in the Grizzly Sports Hall of Fame.

* Montana is 575-98 (.854) all-time at Dahlberg Arena but only 8-7 at home since the start of last season.

* MJ Bruno got the start against Gonzaga on Monday. It was her first collegiate start. She played in 43 games at Portland over two years as a reserve. Her 12 points were a collegiate best, topping the 11 she scored last season as a Pilot against UC San Diego.

* In 12 games since becoming a starter last Jan. 26, Dani Bartsch is averaging 8.7 points on 51.9 percent shooting and 11.1 rebounds.

Around the Big Sky Conference:

* Preseason favorite Eastern Washington looked the part last week in opening 2-0. The Eagles won 86-77 at Southern Utah, against a team that won 23 games last season and made the NCAA tournament and was picked second in the WAC this season, and 75-39 at Utah State.

* The Eagles get a home game against Gonzaga on Wednesday, Nov. 29.

* Northern Colorado is 1-0 after an 86-56 home win over Hastings (Neb.) College last Monday.

* Idaho State went from 97 points scored in a home win over Park University to 47 in a road loss at Washington State.

* Idaho lost 65-55 at home to Cal Poly on Wednesday, the same Cal Poly team Montana will face on the road prior to Christmas.

* Portland State opened the season with a 71-62 road win at UC Davis, then lost 71-43 at San Diego, a team Montana will face on the road prior to Christmas.

* Preseason No. 2 Northern Arizona opened the season with 81-48 and 87-64 losses on the road at Oregon and Arizona, respectively.

* After winning the Big Sky tournament last season and playing in the NCAA tournament, then undergoing an offseason coaching change, Sacramento State opened the season with a 76-28 loss at Washington. The Hornets shot 22.7 percent with 22 turnovers.

Upcoming: Montana will play at Grand Canyon on Monday, Nov. 20, at 6 p.m. The Lopes, who host Oregon on Thursday prior to hosting Montana on Monday, are 2-0, with a 55-52 home win over Saint Mary's and a 73-61 road win at North Dakota.

In its opener against Saint Mary's, Grand Canyon trailed 52-33 with just over seven minutes to go. The Lopes, the WAC preseason favorites by a slim margin over Southern Utah, closed the game on a 22-0 run to win 55-52.

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Players Mentioned

Dani Bartsch

MJ Bruno

Maggie Espenmiller-McGraw

Carmen Gfeller

Macey Huard

Mack Konig

Gina Marxen

University of Montana Athletics