Lady Griz christen Robin Selvig Court with a win

Saturday, February 11

Missoula, Mont.

2 PM

Montana

13-12, 9-5BSC

Weber State

5-20, 1-12BSC

Weber St.

Montana

Photo by: Ryan Brennecke/UM Athletics

2/11/2023 6:03:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Photo Gallery

By: Montana Sports Information

The Lady Griz won their first game on Robin Selvig Court on Saturday in a fashion that made the former Montana coach proud.

On an afternoon when the open looks were plentiful but the made baskets were limited, Montana got after it on the defensive end and defeated Weber State 65-48.

The Wildcats had 15 points at the half and shot 33.3 percent for the game. The Lady Griz shot 35.7 percent but still led by 10 points or more the final 32 minutes of the game.

"Came out of the gates firing, then it was one of those nights where shots going down were hard to come by. That's why you play good defense, and that's what they did today," said Selvig.

This year's team attended Friday night's naming ceremony and sat in rapt attention as they heard story after story about the legacy of the program they now carry on their shoulders.

Montana coach Brian Holsinger tapped into that emotion on Saturday when he drew a jersey on the whiteboard in the team's locker room. The jersey had just one word: Montana.

"Because we were there last night, I told them this jersey means more to you today than it did yesterday because of what we experienced last night as a team," said Holsinger.

"They understand what it means to put on the Montana jersey better because of last night. I felt we made them proud today."

Montana missed just one shot in the first five minutes of the game to build a quick 15-4 lead. That end of the court would cool off but the other end gave Weber State fits from opening tip to final horn.

And the Lady Griz did it employing a 2-3 zone that the Wildcats never did figure out. Shot clocks went deep, shots were rushed, good looks were few and far between.

It's the same defensive look Selvig used to build the dynasty that he led to 865 wins and 24 conference championships in his 38-year career.

"That is pure Robin Selvig style," said Holsinger. "A little different from his but in honor of my guy, we came out and played 2-3 for most of the game and it stifled them. I'm proud of the effort.

"The zone isn't exciting but they scored 48 points and we held them to 33 percent. If we had shot it great, we would have scored 80 easily, but defense wins. That's why I'm fired up."

The game came less than 48 hours after Thursday's stomach-punch loss to Idaho State, a game the Bengals won with two free throws with 0.9 seconds on the clock after a call not everyone agreed with.

The Lady Griz showed no residual effects of the loss on Saturday, hitting five of their first six shots and riding their defense to a 15th straight home win over Weber State.

"Our kids have responded the right way after tough things have happened to them this season. It was tough the other night. Our kids responded the right way," said Holsinger.

The day's best storyline – other than decades of former Lady Griz and their coach getting their due – was the bounce-back performance by Sammy Fatkin, who was held scoreless by Idaho State.

Against the Wildcats, she hit two baskets in the paint in the game's first three minutes, then hit a 3-pointer later in the first quarter. She would finish with 15 points.

"Credit to Sammy. She's turned into a kid who kind of meets her fears," said Holsinger, who a year ago this month lost Fatkin to an ankle injury suffered against Idaho State on the same floor.

"She admitted after the game that she went mental a little bit. Last year she hurt her ankle against that team, and those feeling came back. We talked about letting that stuff go, and she did."

Carmen Gfeller led Montana with 18 points, Mack Konig had 12 points and a season-high eight assists, and Gina Marxen stayed hot from the arc, hitting three 3-pointers and scoring 11 points.

She is 12 for 19 from distance the last four games.

"She's comfortable. She sat out a year, so we thought it would be until January until she got comfortable," said Holsinger, who also moved her off the ball while pairing her with Konig.

"We took her off the point too, so she's a little bit more shoot-first. She's been knocking them down."

Montana led 20-9 after the first quarter, 36-15 at the break. It's the fewest points allowed in a half this season by the Lady Griz.

Montana went just 3 for 17 in the third quarter, but its lead was never threatened. The best offense Weber State had was on second-chance shots after grabbing offensive rebounds.

It's the seventh straight game Montana's opponent has grabbed 10 or more offensive rebounds.

"The only area of defense that bothers me is the rebounds," said Holsinger. "We continue to not do as well as we can in that area.

"We made them miss a lot of shots. We didn't get enough of those defensive rebounds."

Holsinger can bypass Dani Bartsch when he breaks out the video for review of the team's rebounding next week. She had 14 boards, giving her 59 the last five games.

Weber State did not have a starter score more than eight points. Laura Taylor scored a team-high 10 points off the bench.

The third-place Lady Griz now turn their attention to Big Sky Conference leader Montana State, which defeated Idaho State 70-53 on Saturday for its ninth win in 10 games.

The teams will play in Bozeman next Saturday, tipping off at 2 p.m. The Bobcats won the teams' first matchup 72-63 in Missoula.

"It's a big deal. It's a big deal to the state, it's a big deal to us, it's a big deal to them," said Holsinger. "We played poorly here at home. We didn't play how we wanted to play.

"We're going to go over there and play different. We're going to prepare to go over there and play completely different than we did the first time."