Bruno shines, Lady Griz rally, Montana sweeps road trip

Thursday, December 21

San Diego, Calif.

3 PM (MT)

Montana

6-3

UC San Diego

4-7

Montana

UC San Diego

Photo by: Tanner Ecker/University of Montana

Bruno shines, Lady Griz rally, Montana sweeps road trip

12/21/2023 6:33:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

By: Montana Sports Information

Montana dominated the opening five minutes and owned the final five, and that was enough to get out of California with a 68-67 victory over UC San Diego on Thursday afternoon at the USD Winter Classic at Jenny Craig Pavilion in San Diego.

In a roller-coaster game, the Lady Griz (6-3), who hit eight of their first 10 shots, raced out to a 16-0 lead, fell behind 40-30 at the half and trailed 65-56 with less than four minutes to go before taking over down the stretch.

Montana made its last four shots, including the game-winning three-point play by Gina Marxen with 54 seconds left, and San Diego made just one basket over the final five minutes while turning the ball over three times against Montana's late-game pressure.

The Lady Griz swept their three-game trip to California and won for the sixth time in seven games.

"We had an amazing start, then relaxed and started taking bad shots and didn't do the right things for a long stretch, and they are good," said coach Brian Holsinger, who watched the Tritons knock off then 8-3 Boise State on Wednesday.

"In the second half we went small and started pressing. We stayed there, stayed there, then down the stretch they started getting a little nervous with our pressure and we got a couple big baskets."

Any late-game heroics or comeback would not have been possible without the game-long play of MJ Bruno, who had the game of her life. She took eight shots, six from 3-point range, and made them all, while also leading the team with eight rebounds.

Bruno had eight points in the first half, then added 15 in the second as Montana shot 52.4 percent over the final 20 minutes to erase its 10-point halftime deficit.

Bruno, considered by her coaches at Portland to be a defensive specialist and a shooter on only the rarest of occasions, transferred to the Lady Griz in the offseason partly on the promise made by Holsinger that she would have the green light as long as she played for him.

Bruno, who made 14 3-pointers in two years as a Pilot, rewarded her coach's confidence and belief on Thursday.

"She transferred here and I just tried to build her confidence," said Holsinger. "She can play. She can shoot it. She was huge for us today when we needed someone to step up."

That someone would need to step up late to secure the victory seemed laughable in the early going, especially after Montana could do no wrong in the opening five minutes.

Four different players knocked down 3-pointers and Montana looked like it was on its way to a runaway victory, racing out to a 16-0 lead.

But after opening 8 for 10, the Lady Griz made just eight of their next 30 shots, and the Tritons, behind the sublime point-guard play of freshman Sumayah Sugapong, who finished with 25 points and four assists, took on the look of world beaters.

UC San Diego pulled within 21-14 at the end of the first quarter, then exploded for 26 points in the second quarter while Montana was going 3 for 12 with six turnovers.

And just like that, UCSD held a 40-30 halftime lead.

"You start feeling a certain way, then you get out of what you're supposed to do and teams are good," said Holsinger. "They are a tough cover. They have a lot of kids who can shoot.

"I told them at half: composure. We have to have composure and just do what we're supposed to do."

Montana fell behind by 14 points early in the third quarter, 44-30, trailed by 10 entering the fourth and still faced a 10-point deficit, 63-53, when the clocked ticked under five minutes.

From there it was all Lady Griz. Bruno – who else? – initiated the game-ending run with a 3-pointer and a pull-up jumper. A Dani Bartsch 3-pointer made it 65-61 with 2:37 to go and two free throws by Mack Konig brought Montana within two, 65-63 with 2:16 to play.

UC San Diego answered to make it 67-63, but those would be the final points of the game for the Tritons.

After Bartsch scored on a driving layup to bring the margin back to two, 67-65, with 1:40 left, Montana forced a miss, which set Marxen up to get into the lane for a finish and free throw.

That gave the Lady Griz a 68-67 lead, their first since midway through the first quarter.

Maggie Espenmiller-McGraw created a turnover before Montana gave the ball back with nine seconds left on an offensive foul. Bruno, playing tight but hands-off defense, forced a miss and Bartsch was there for the rebound with four seconds left.

UC San Diego, without a timeout, grabbed a missed free throw with two seconds left and could only get up a heave from beyond half court.

After going 0 for 7 through the game's first 39 minutes, all of her takes from beyond the 3-point line, Marxen, who had a game-high six assists, came through with the finish late in the game, putting her head down and getting to the basket.

"We grew up tonight. We gritted it out," said Holsinger. "I'm glad to get out of here one point ahead. It was a battle. It probably shouldn't have been."

Konig had 12 points, as did Carmen Gfeller, her eighth straight game in double figures, and Bartsch added 10 points, six rebounds and four assists. Montana was +19 on the scoreboard for the 30:22 Bartsch was on the court.

Montana got outrebounded for just the second time this season, 34-27.

The Lady Griz went 13 for 30 from the 3-point line, the most since hitting 13 in an 88-56 home win over Portland State last season. Montana hit 34 3-pointers in its wins over Cal Poly, San Diego and UC San Diego on 45.9 percent shooting.

Montana's 22 baskets on Thursday came on 19 assists. The Lady Griz assisted on 79.2 percent of their baskets at the USD Winter Classic.

Montana will take a short break before opening Big Sky Conference play with home games against Weber State and Idaho State on Dec. 29 and 31.