Montana outlasts Idaho in high-scoring game

Monday, February 27

Missoula, Mont.

7 PM

Montana

14-15, 10-8BSC

Idaho

13-16, 9-9BSC

Idaho

Montana

Photo by: UM Photo/Tommy Martino

2/27/2023 10:48:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Photo Gallery

By: Montana Sports Information

You may have been wondering as you watched Idaho standout Beyonce Bea reach 10 points, then 20, then 30, then 40 on Monday night, is Montana ever going to change its approach to guarding the Vandals?

Nope. And it worked out just fine, with Montana's balance just enough to overcome the superstar.

Montana's five starters all scored in double figures, with Sammy Fatkin and Dani Bartsch both adding 12 rebounds, and the Lady Griz held off Idaho 85-82 at Dahlberg Arena in Missoula.

Bea finished with 40 points on 17-of-30 shooting, and that was by design. Lost in the bright glare of that number, which matched the most points ever scored against Montana, was Idaho's production from the 3-point line.

The Vandals, who can bury a team from the arc if it let's them, hit just three 3-pointers through three quarters. Montana chose to live with the twos if it meant limiting the threes. And the math worked out in the home team's favor.

Leading 37-34 at the half, Montana used a strong start to the third quarter to build a 13-point lead, went up 11 in the fourth quarter, then held on through the final buzzer to make winners of Fatkin and Katerina Tsineke on Senior Night.

Bea's 40 points matched the 40 put on Montana by Northern Colorado's Savannah Smith in 2019 and Wake Forest's Dearica Hamby in 2014. It topped the most points ever scored against the Lady Griz in Missoula, the previous record the 38 points scored by Oregon's Bev Smith in 1981.

Of course, all those were games Montana lost by 13 or more points, unlike Monday night when the Lady Griz won and assured themselves a first-round bye at the upcoming Big Sky tournament in Boise.

See, it all worked out.

"It was kind of our plan. We weren't going to double her because 40 points doesn't beat you," said Lady Griz coach Brian Holsinger.

"We wanted to take away the three and see if she can go one-on-one and score however many points. I knew we'd give up a few layups taking away the three like that, but they feed off the three."

Bea, who had 32 points in the teams' first meeting in Moscow in late December, a 79-71 Idaho win when the Vandals hit 12 3-pointers, scored seven in the first quarter, 13 in the second, 11 in the third and nine in the fourth.

It was almost enough.

"Credit to her. She made it interesting for a long time. She's a really good player and got a lot of buckets. Our kids battled and battled. A lot of kids guarded her," said Holsinger.

Playing her final game on Robin Selvig Court, Fatkin scored 21 points, her seventh game with 20 or more this season. She also grabbed 12 rebounds for her second career double-double and added four assists.

It was quite a good-bye to a fan base that saw her through all sorts of ups and downs, from starting her career at Arizona, to playing at Montana before stepping away from the program for a year and a half, then playing two final successful seasons under Holsinger.

Fatkin was recognized before the game, as was Tsineke, who played six minutes.

"They've given a lot. Really proud of those two. I'm really proud of Sammy and Kat too. She hasn't played as much as she's wanted to this year, but she's the best teammate ever, and that says a lot about her character," said Holsinger.

Carmen Gfeller added 18 points and seven rebounds. Ten of her points came in the fourth quarter as Montana fought off every surge Idaho made.

After the Vandals cut an 11-point lead to three, 71-68, with nearly six minutes still to go, it was Gfeller who scored inside. Her 3-pointer a minute later made it 77-68. Her final points, another 3-pointer, were the backbreaker, putting Montana up 84-76 with just over a minute to go.

Bartsch, who matched a career high with three 3-pointers, had 11 points on just five shots. Gina Marxen and Mack Konig also scored 11 points.

Bartsch's 12 rebounds give her 12 or more in six of Montana's last seven games.

It was Montana's second-highest scoring output of the season against a Division I opponent. That it resulted in a mere three-point win might be a concern. Until you remember what Montana went through between Wednesday afternoon and Sunday morning.

Now is not the time to get into the details. Just know that Holsinger has been coaching for a long time, and he's never experienced a road trip like that. Checking into a hotel at 5 a.m. on game day on Thursday, arriving home in Missoula at 5 a.m. on Sunday after more travel difficulties.

"Our defense has been our nemesis this year. In order to be a championship team, you have to defend at a high level, but I want to give our kids some grace. We had the most unbelievable road trip," he said.

"We got off the road and then came out and put in a great effort. At this time of year, you're just trying to win games. We executed down the stretch. We put up 85 points against a team that likes to score."

A back-and-forth first quarter ended with Idaho leading 19-15. Montana took a 30-28 lead late in the second quarter on a Fatkin basket, and the Lady Griz would lead the rest of the way, though never comfortably, not against a team like Idaho.

Up 37-34 at the break, Montana scored the first 10 points of the second half. Fatkin hit a three, Marxen hit a three and Gfeller scored twice inside.

The lead remained at least seven the rest of the third quarter, reached 11, 67-56, early in the fourth, then Montana held on during a high-scoring final period, when the teams combined to score 50 points.

Montana shot 47.1 percent, its best performance since Feb. 2 at Northern Colorado, and had 16 assists against eight turnovers.

The win snapped Montana's three-game losing streak and sends the Lady Griz to Boise as the Big Sky tournament's No. 5 seed.

Montana will get a quarterfinal matchup against No. 4 Eastern Washington, which will take a four-game winning streak into the postseason after winning 78-65 at Montana State on Monday.

The Lady Griz and Eagles will tip off at noon on Monday. Montana won 81-70 in the teams' matchup in Cheney, Eastern Washington won in Missoula 87-60.

Eastern Washington's win at Montana State on Monday night made it a three-way tie atop the Big Sky standings at 13-5 between Northern Arizona, MSU and Sacramento State.

The Lumberjacks, who went 4-0 against Montana State and Sacramento State, will be the tournament's No. 1 seed, the Bobcats the No. 2 seed, the Hornets the No. 3 seed.

The winner of the Montana-Eastern Washington game would face top-seeded Northern Arizona at noon on Tuesday if the Lumberjacks get past the winner of No. 9 Northern Colorado and No. 10 Weber State on Sunday.