Lady Griz win fifth straight, now 2-0 in league

Sunday, December 31

Missoula, Mont.

2 PM

Montana

8-3, 2-0BSC

Idaho State

4-7, 0-2BSC

Idaho St.

Montana

Photo by: Tanner Ecker/University of Montana

12/31/2023 5:59:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Photo Gallery

By: Montana Sports Information

The Montana women's basketball team will take a five-game winning streak into the new year and a 2-0 start to its Big Sky Conference schedule after topping Idaho State 66-55 on Sunday afternoon at Dahlberg Arena in Missoula.

The Lady Griz (8-3, 2-0 BSC), who opened league with an 87-71 victory over Weber State on Friday night, put up 27 points in the first quarter on an always tough Bengal defense and held the lead the rest of the way.

The victory snapped Montana's five-game home losing streak to Idaho State (4-7, 0-2 BSC), which opened its road trip with a two-point loss at Montana State on Friday.

Carmen Gfeller and Gina Marxen both had 12 points, as Montana's scoring was distributed between nine different players, with six scoring between seven and 12.

The 55 points allowed were the second fewest of the season for Montana's defense.

"It's always good to be 2-0. Really proud of our kids," said coach Brian Holsinger. "Defensively we were better today, better all the way around. That's a huge positive. Really proud of the effort and energy on that end of the floor."

It felt like Montana might boat race Idaho State, going up 24-12 within the game's opening eight minutes, notable considering the Lady Griz had averaged just 54 points during their five-game home losing streak to the Bengals.

But it would never quite be that free-flowing and one-sided again. Idaho State pulled within six, 29-23, in the second quarter and Montana led 40-29 at the break.

The Lady Griz slowly built their lead to 18 points in the third quarter and 19 early in the fourth on a 3-pointer by Maggie Espenmiller-McGraw that made it 62-43.

The game was decided by that point, but a Seton Sobolewski-coached team will go all 40 minutes. Idaho State held Montana to 2-of-8 shooting in the fourth quarter and more turnovers (8) than points (7) as the Bengals ended the game on a 12-4 run over the final seven-plus minutes.

"The kids got a little discouraged. I told them not to hang their heads. We're 2-0. It wasn't pretty but we beat a pretty good team," said Holsinger.

"We got away from doing the things we did in the first quarter the rest of the game, just keeping it simple. Certain defenses are built to do certain things and you have to take the shots they give you. We started to overthink things. Just do what you're supposed to do."

Going up against one of the Big Sky's top defenses, Montana looked unstoppable in the opening quarter, hitting 10 of its 15 shots and going 5 for 9 from the 3-point line.

The Lady Griz would go 5 for 17 from the arc the rest of the way. That did give Montana 10 or more 3-pointers made for the fifth straight game, the first time that's happened in program history.

Up 11 at the half, Montana held Idaho State to 4-of-14 shooting in the third quarter, which allowed the Lady Griz to build comfortable separation, which doesn't happen often against the Bengals.

It was Montana's first double-digit win over Idaho State since 2017. The final margin could have been 20 or more but the fourth quarter played out like it did, with the Bengals frustrating the Lady Griz through the final buzzer.

"Didn't end how we wanted it to end. It's always fun to learn things when you win," said Holsinger. "You have to continue to play right, and we played right for most of the game. Keep it simple. We started to overthink and didn't just play. Anytime you do that, it causes turnovers."

Montana shot 44.9 percent. The Lady Griz are shooting 47.4 percent during their five-game winning streak. Montana also outrebounded Idaho State by 12, the ninth time in 11 games this season the Lady Griz have outrebounded their opponent.

Montana is 2-0 in Big Sky play for the second time in three seasons under Holsinger.

The Lady Griz will now step out of league for two games as part of the Big Sky Conference-Summit League Challenge.

Montana will host South Dakota (11-4) on Wednesday at 7 p.m. and play at Nebraska-Omaha (4-9) on Saturday at 1 p.m. (MT).

Wednesday's game will be the last at home for Montana until Jan. 25. Saturday's game at UNO will be the first of five straight on the road for the Lady Griz, who return to league with a game at Northern Colorado on Jan. 11.