Road warriors: Lady Griz win in overtime in Flagstaff

Saturday, February 4

Flagstaff, Ariz.

6 PM

Montana

12-11, 8-4BSC

Northern Arizona

13-11, 7-4BSC

OT 1

Montana

Northern Ariz.

Photo by: Ryan Brennecke/UM Athletics

Road warriors: Lady Griz win in overtime in Flagstaff

2/4/2023 9:58:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

By: Montana Sports Information

In a game that began with 30 minutes of offensive fireworks, it was Montana's defense that came through when it had to.

The result was an 80-76 overtime victory over Northern Arizona in Flagstaff that gave the Lady Griz their fourth consecutive victory.

Montana trailed 63-60 through three quarters but held the Lumberjacks to just 13 points over the final 15 minutes on 5-of-28 shooting. Northern Arizona went 1 for 11 in overtime.

"It's just grittiness. We didn't play our best by any means, but I told them, we're on the road, we just have to find a way. Good teams find a way," said coach Brian Holsinger.

"That's what we did, and we did it with our defense, which is really exciting. The kids were tired but they toughed it out."

Holsinger, because of sickness and NAU's unique zone look, went just six players deep for the most part, with the five starters plus Libby Stump off the bench.

On a night when the team's reserves contributed just seven points, a season low, Montana's starters put up some monster numbers.

Sammy Fatkin scored a game-high 27 points, one off her career high, and added 10 rebounds for her first career double-double.

Carmen Gfeller had her eighth career double-double, with 12 points and 11 rebounds, Gina Marxen had 13 points, Mack Konig 12.

And then there was Dani Bartsch, who grabbed 17 rebounds, a career high by six and the most for a Lady Griz since Jace Henderson had 18 against Portland State in 2018-19.

"We had some magnificent performances individually," said Holsinger, who pointed to Thursday's 78-61 win at Northern Colorado as a key to Saturday's win.

Montana didn't have to play anyone more than 28 minutes against the Bears, which kept the Lady Griz fresher to face a team that was coming off a 79-50 home win over Montana State on Thursday.

"It goes back to Thursday's game. We were able to play more people and rest some players. I knew this was going to be a battle here."

It was back-and-forth from the opening minutes, much like the second half of the game the teams played in Missoula last month, a 76-74 Lumberjack win.

On Saturday, the game was tied 12 times and had 10 lead changes.

Neither team led by more than five in the first half, neither team led by more than two the final six minutes of regulation, which ended with Regan Schenck missing a potential game-winner at the buzzer.

Fatkin opened the overtime scoring with an and-one, and Montana held the lead the rest of the way as Northern Arizona missed its final six shots of the game.

The win gave Montana a 5-1 record in Big Sky road games this season. The Lady Griz were 3-7 in league road games last year, its first under Holsinger.

"It's an important step in growing this program. There is a toughness to it, grit and overcoming adversity," said Holsinger.

"It started with our seniors. They showed a lot of toughness tonight and it goes through the roster. For us to take every punch we could and then find a way to win at the end was big."

Northern Arizona went 9 for 16 in the first period, which would have buried some teams, but Montana got nine first-quarter points from Fatkin and trailed just 23-19 after 10 minutes.

Fatkin added eight more in the second quarter, giving her 17 at the break on 7-of-12 shooting. Montana led 41-40 at the half.

The senior had been playing facilitator the last three games, taking just 16 shots. On Saturday, Montana needed scoring Sammy.

"I told her before the game I wanted her to be really aggressive," said Holsinger. "I wanted her to score in this game.

"I knew that coming in here, she would have the right mindset. Her aggressiveness from the start kind of set the tone for the team."

Northern Arizona scored 21 points in the first six minutes of the third quarter to build a 61-54 lead and had three looks at 3-pointers that could have made it a 10-point game.

All three missed and Montana scored the game's next six points to pull within one.

Montana Oltrogge hit a 3-pointer to start the fourth quarter and give her team a 66-60 lead. It would be the largest lead for either team the rest of the game.

Montana tied it at 67-67 on two Konig free throws with 4:57 to play, then tied it again at 74-74 with 40 seconds left on a left-handed finish by Konig in the lane.

The Lady Griz survived Schenck's potential game-winner at the end of regulation, then never trailed in the overtime period to snap a three-game losing streak to the Lumberjacks.

Schenck led NAU with 18 points, 11 rebounds and six assists. Montana held Oltrogge, Northern Arizona's leading scorer, to nine points on 3-of-15 shooting.

The win moves Montana (12-11, 8-4 BSC) above .500 for the first time this season and into second in the Big Sky standings, one game behind Montana State (16-8, 9-3 BSC).

Montana will get home games against Idaho State (9-12, 4-6 BSC) and Weber State (5-17, 1-9 BSC) next week.