Lady Griz light up Dahlberg, score 108

Monday, November 27

Missoula, Mont.

7 PM

Montana

2-2

108

Dickinson State

Dickinson St.

Montana

108

Photo by: çBill Jarvis

11/27/2023 10:17:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Photo Gallery

By: Montana Sports Information

It was a record-setting night for the Montana women's basketball team on Monday as the Lady Griz rolled to a 108-57 victory over Dickinson State at Dahlberg Arena.

The 108 points were the most ever scored by Montana. The previous record was 105, set by the 1989-90 team in a 105-69 road win at Weber State and matched by the 2005-06 team in a 105-55 home-court victory over Idaho State.

The Lady Griz led 24-13 after the first quarter, then exploded for back-to-back 36-point periods in the second and third as Montana shot 27 for 43 (.628) and went 10 for 18 (.556) from the 3-point line.

It was only the sixth time in program history Montana has scored 100 points in a game.

"Awesome to get a win like that," said Lady Griz coach Brian Holsinger, whose team improved to 2-2 with the victory. "We try to play right no matter who we're playing. Proud of the overall performance."

Montana had five players in double figures for the second consecutive game. The Lady Griz were led by Maggie Espenmiller-McGraw's 23 points.

Espenmiller-McGraw went 9 for 10 overall and hit five of her six shots from the arc. She was so efficient and deadly that Montana was an unbelievable +43 in the 19 minutes, 40 seconds she was on the floor.

The 23 points set a collegiate high for the Iowa State transfer, who scored 20 against Kansas as a freshman for the Cyclones back in 2019-20.

Espenmiller-McGraw scored a combined 16 points against Gonzaga and Washington State on 6-of-17 shooting. She went 3 for 6 from the 3-point line in last Monday's road win at Grand Canyon while scoring 11 points.

Through four games she is 12 for 22 (.545) from the arc.

"I'm not surprised. She does it in practice all the time," said Holsinger. "She started to kind of come along down at Grand Canyon. She can really shoot it. She's a weapon."

As expected, it was a night of opportunities and increased minutes for Montana's healthy players, and nobody took advantage of it more than Alex Pirog.

The sophomore went 7 for 10 to score 17 points and grabbed 12 rebounds, both career highs.

With Imogen Greenslade out with an injury, Pirog did her damage in just over 20 minutes of court time, getting plenty of opportunities down low against the undersized Blue Hawks.

Five of her made field goals came off assists from her teammates, the other two from offensive rebounds. Nothing fancy, just simple basketball, which often leads to winning basketball.

"When someone gets hurt, you step up and take advantage of your opportunities. She took advantage," said Holsinger.

"She's learning how to keep it simple. Just post really hard, turn and score. She did an awesome job tonight. We need that kind of effort from her."

After a relatively slow opening quarter, Montana outscored Dickinson State, which was counting the game as an exhibition, 72-29 over the middle two periods.

The Lady Griz led 96-42 after three quarters and slowly approached and then broke the program record for points in a final period that didn't match the second and third quarters.

Montana went 6 for 18, 0 for 6 from the arc over the final 10 minutes and turned the ball over four times on a night the Lady Griz had just six for the game.

"We had second and third quarters that were really exceptional offensively," said Holsinger. "The fourth quarter was a sloppy mess. I'm always trying to get them to play right."

Joining Espenmiller-McGraw and Pirog in double figures were Adria Lincoln with 13, Carmen Gfeller with 12 and Libby Stump with 10 as Montana finished with 59 points from its bench.

Lincoln hit five of her eight shots and added nine rebounds, six on the offensive end. Fellow freshman Macey Huard didn't have the same shooting night but hustled her way to five rebounds, four assists and four steals.

"Both of those freshmen love to score. I love their aggressiveness. You saw that tonight. I'm proud of them. Those two have to keep coming along," said Holsinger.

Lincoln entered the game with no points and one rebound in her first limited minutes of the season. "Tonight, people contributed in ways they hadn't," added Holsinger.

Montana shot 51.8 percent for the game and totaled 24 assists on 43 made baskets. The Lady Griz outrebounded the Blue Hawks 56-25 and only allowed five offensive rebounds and two second-chance points, just 10 points in the paint.

Montana (2-2) won't play against until hosting Loyola Marymount (1-4) on Wednesday, Dec. 6, at 11 a.m. in the program's School Day Game.

Three days later, on Saturday night, Dec. 9, Montana will host currently unbeaten Colorado State (5-0).