Lady Griz right at home in San Diego

Wednesday, December 20

San Diego, Calif.

3 PM (MT)

Montana

5-3

San Diego

4-7

Montana

San Diego

Photo by: Tanner Ecker/University of Montana

12/20/2023 6:01:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

By: Montana Sports Information

Montana opened the USD Winter Classic with a 72-52 victory over host San Diego on Wednesday afternoon at Jenny Craig Pavilion.

The Lady Griz (5-3), hot from the opening minute to the 40th, shot 52.0 percent, hit 11 3-pointers and outscored the Toreros (4-7) across all four quarters. Montana never trailed in the game.

"To get a win on the road is always good," said coach Brian Holsinger. "From beginning to end, we did some good things."

Dani Bartsch hit a pair of 3-pointers in the game's first 90 seconds, a sign of things to come for the Lady Griz, and Montana never looked back.

The Lady Griz led 23-15 after one period, 39-28 at the half and 55-42 through 30 minutes to post their largest margin of victory on the road since the 2021-22 season.

"This is a good WCC team and well coached, and we came in here and jumped on them early. It's awesome when you can win every quarter. It was a good deal for us," said Holsinger.

Sparked by the aggressive play of Mack Konig, who matched a career high with 21 points while adding four assists, Montana hit four 3-pointers in the opening period and forced San Diego to play catchup.

The Toreros average fewer than four made threes per game and went 1 for 12 from the arc on Wednesday.

Konig scored seven points in the first quarter, then added eight more in the second. Her 15 first-half points came on 6-of-8 shooting. She connected on both of her 3-point attempts.

"I expect a lot from Mack. It's been a little bit of a rough go for her but she's been mentally tough," said Holsinger. "You have ups and downs. You have to find a way through them.

"For her to come out and have a performance like that, I'm really, really proud of her and excited about what she's going to do for us."

San Diego's 52 points were the fewest Montana has allowed since defeating Weber State 65-48 at home last season, the fewest on the road since winning 72-51 at North Dakota more than two years ago.

The Toreros shot 43.6 percent but turned the ball over 16 times and didn't get many second-chance looks as Montana won the rebounding battle 31-26 against a team that was +3.5 on the season.

Montana has outrebounded its last seven opponents.

"We're getting better," Holsinger said of his team's defense. "We played a little more connected on the defensive end and we rebounded it."

Montana won by 20 despite turning the ball over 18 times, giving the Lady Griz 39 turnovers through the first two games of their three-game road trip. Still, Montana has won twice.

"We're still continuing to have unforced turnovers," Holsinger said. "We still want to make it hard sometimes when we just need to keep it simple. We're learning and growing."

Macey Huard added a season-high 12 points off the bench on 5-of-7 shooting, Carmen Gfeller had 10 points, her seventh straight game in double figures, the 70th of her career.

Montana would go 11 for 21 (.524) from the arc, its fifth time in eight games this season with 10 or more makes from the 3-point line, and finish with 19 assists on 26 made field goals.

Seven different players made a 3-pointer for the Lady Griz, who have won five of their last six games and improved to 3-0 on the road.

Montana will face UC San Diego on Thursday at 3 p.m. (MT). The Tritons (3-6) played Boise State (8-3) in Wednesday's second game.