Lady Griz open with Eagles in Boise

The Montana women's basketball team will open postseason play next week at the Big Sky Conference Championships presented by Idaho Central Credit Union.

The tournament, which runs Saturday through Wednesday, will be played at Idaho Central Arena in Boise.

The Lady Griz (14-15, 10-8 BSC) finished in fifth place in the final league standings and will take the No. 5 seed into the postseason.

Montana's opener will be a quarterfinal game against No. 4 Eastern Washington (18-10, 11-7 BSC) at noon on Monday.

The teams split their regular-season series, with both teams winning on the road. Monday will be their first postseason meeting since a semifinal matchup in 2015.

This is the fifth year the tournament has been hosted by Boise. Montana is 0-4 on four previous trips to Boise, with two first-round losses, two quarterfinal losses.

Coverage: Monday's game will stream on ESPN+ with Tracy Warren and Krista Redpath on the call. The local broadcast, with Ace Sauerwein, can be heard on KMPT 930 AM/99.7 FM or at 930kmpt.com.

At a glance (Montana): The Lady Griz were in position to potentially challenge for a regular-season championship after winning four straight in late January and early February to improve to 8-4 in league, one game out of first, but four losses in five games sent Montana down the standings.

Those losses were by one at home against Idaho State on a late whistle, by two at Montana State, by two in overtime at Portland State, when the Vikings made two 3-pointers in the final 2.9 seconds of regulation, and 63-56 at Sacramento State, a game Montana led in the fourth quarter.

Montana got back on track with an 85-82 home win over Idaho on Monday night. The team's five starters all were in double figures and Montana shot 47.1 percent, its best since Feb. 2, all of which was enough to overcome a 40-point game by Beyonce Bea.

It was the most points ever scored against the Lady Griz on their home floor by an opposing player and matched the most points Montana has ever allowed.

At a glance (Eastern Washington): The Eagles have been without leading scorer Jaydia Martin (16.1/g) since late January but still managed to close the regular season on a four-game winning streak, including a 78-65 road win at Montana State on Monday night.

Eastern Washington last week picked up two home wins with a pair of stellar defensive efforts. The Eagles defeated Weber State 64-31, Idaho State 64-44.

After falling behind Montana State 25-13 after one quarter on Monday, the Eagles held the Bobcats to 40 points over the final three periods on a night Montana State could have claimed the outright Big Sky title with a win.

Weber State (.222), Idaho State (.327) and Montana State (.344) combined to shoot 29.9 percent against Eastern Washington over five days. The Eagles' last four opponents went 10 for 53 (.189) from the 3-point line.

The Eagles were picked sixth in the Big Sky preseason coaches' poll, eighth by the media. Their fourth-place finish is their best since tying for third in 2017-18.

The first meeting: The teams opened league against each other on Dec. 29 in Cheney. Montana built a 19-point first-half lead and never trailed in winning 81-70. It was one of just four losses in 15 games at Reese Court this season for the Eagles.

Montana shot 47.5 percent and outrebounded Eastern Washington 43-31, allowing the Eagles just two second-chance points.

Carmen Gfeller led both teams with 18 points, Libby Stump added 15 off the bench. Jacinta Buckley led the Eagles with 15 points. Jaydia Martin had 12 but on 3-of-12 shooting.

The second meeting: When the teams met in Missoula on Jan. 16, it was Montana's third game in five days, coming after a road trip to Weber State and Idaho State. Eastern Washington was coming off a single-game weekend, a home contest against Idaho.

That schedule discrepancy showed. The fresher, more aggressive Eagles blitzed the Lady Griz right from the start, going up 10-0, leading 48-25 at the half and building a 34-point second-half advantage on their way to an 87-60 win.

It was Eastern Washington's largest margin of victory over Montana in the schools' 102 meetings and the second-most points ever allowed by the Lady Griz inside Dahlberg Arena, the most since the 1980-81 season when Oregon scored 89.

Jaydia Martin scored 33 points on 14-of-23 shooting. She had 21 at the half, all 33 of her points by the end of the third quarter. The Eagles shot 57.1 percent and had just six turnovers.

Montana's starting five totaled just 21 points on 8-of-24 shooting.

Series history: Montana leads the all-time series 77-26 and has gone 3-1 against the Eagles when the teams have met at neutral sites.

Montana is 9-1 against Eastern Washington in conference tournament games, 7-1 in Missoula, 2-0 at neutral sites.

Their previous neutral-site matchups were at Moscow, Idaho, in 1985, a 66-65 Montana semifinal victory, and at Pocatello, Idaho, in 2001, a 76-55 Lady Griz quarterfinal victory.

The teams' most recent postseason meeting was in Missoula in 2015 in the semifinals, a 55-51 Montana victory.

Tournament preview: With Eastern Washington's win at Montana State on Monday night, that allowed Northern Arizona and Sacramento State to match the Bobcats at 13-5. All three shared the regular-season title.

Eastern Washington, at 11-7, finished two games back, Montana, at 10-8 finished fifth, one game up on Idaho (9-9).

The tournament opens on Saturday, with No. 9 Northern Colorado facing No. 10 Weber State at noon. The Bears swept the season series. The winner will advance to face No. 1 Northern Arizona at noon on Sunday.

At 2:30 on Saturday, No. 7 Portland State will take on No. 8 Idaho State. The teams split their season series, with each winning on its home floor. The winner will advance to face No. 2 Montana State at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday.

Monday has the 4-5 game between Eastern Washington and Montana at noon and No. 3 Sacramento State facing No. 6 Idaho at 2:30 p.m. The Hornets swept the season series against the Vandals.

The winner of the Montana-Eastern Washington game will advance to the semifinals and a game on Tuesday at noon against Northern Arizona if the Lumberjacks can advance past the Northern Colorado-Weber State winner.

The second semifinal game will be played at 2:30 p.m. on Tuesday, the championship game at 3 p.m. on Wednesday on ESPNU.

Montana tournament history: The Lady Griz have a conference tournament record of 56-19. Montana is 14-13 in neutral-site games and has gone 0-4 in Boise, 2-7 since the Big Sky went to an all-in model, with three seasons in Reno before the tournament moved to Boise.

In Montana's four losses in Boise, three have come as the higher seed. Last season the Lady Griz were the lower seed in the 4-5 game and lost 75-57 to Northern Arizona.

A 9-0 run for the Lumberjacks in the second quarter turned a 19-18 Montana lead into a 27-19 NAU advantage, and Northern Arizona would lead the final 27 minutes.

Summary: Montana coach Brian Holsinger will take his second Lady Griz team to Boise later this week for a quarterfinal matchup against Eastern Washington.

It will be the fifth game of the tournament and come two days after the tournament opens on Saturday. "All these matchups are interesting and that makes for a fun tournament," he said.

Monday's game against Eastern Washington will be the third meeting between two teams that each won comfortably on the other's home court during the season.

"The first game there, we jumped on them early. Here, it was our third game in five days and we didn't handle that very well. They jumped on us and hit a lot of shots," Holsinger said.

Second-year EWU coach Joddie Gleason won't win Big Sky Coach of the Year, but she still did good work in 2022-23, exceeding expectations for a team picked for a lower-half finish in the league.

The Eagles went 1-1 against all three teams that shared the regular-season title.

"Joddie has done a really good job with their team," said Holsinger. "They play tough defense. They are gritty and have talented players who can make shots and make it hard on you. Rebounding will be a gigantic key.

"At this time of year, it's win or go home. Just like (Monday night's 85-82 home win over Idaho), it wasn't my favorite defensive effort, but you find a way to win this time of year. You find a way to win and get to move on."

If Holsinger's first Montana team, in 2021-22, was a little saltier on the defensive end, his second team is more talented offensively.

Montana last year averaged 65 points per game over its final 14 regular-season games, then couldn't keep up with Northern Arizona in the Big Sky tournament, scoring just 57 points.

This year's team averaged 72.6 points in league on 43.2 percent shooting and had five players average between 9.7 and 14.6 points.

"Completely different than last year," said Holsinger. "Defensively we were able to hold teams down but it was always a struggle to find points."

Three of the team's leading scorers this season are newcomers: transfer Gina Marxen and true freshmen Mack Konig and Libby Stump.

"This team has a lot more weapons. We've grinded out some games and won and we've outscored people and won, like (Monday night)," said Holsinger. "Our seniors stepped up in that game, and they need to step up in this tournament as well.

"Depth is a factor in these things, and I think we're one of the deeper teams. That will be to our advantage, but you just need to find a way to win so you live to play another day. We just want to go down to Boise and play good basketball. If we play well, we'll have a great chance."

Not only does Montana have a depth of scoring options, it has perimeter shooting that few Lady Griz teams have ever had.

Montana has made 234 3-pointers this season, which is just five off the program record of 239 set by the 2013-14 team. The 2007-08 NCAA tournament team, with 201 made, is the only other Lady Griz team that has exceeded 200.

The 2013-14 team had four players with 25 or more 3-pointers made, the 2007-08 team had three. This year, six players have made 25 or more.

Montana is shooting 34.8 percent from the arc, which would be the best percentage for the Lady Griz since that 2007-08 team shot 39.2 percent from a 3-point line that was closer to the basket.

Montana also is shooting 77.0 percent from the free throw line, which would be the third-best in program history.

"I love shooting and I love shooters," said Holsinger. "Any time you have multiple people, it helps so you're not relying on one 3-point shooter to shoot well every night. We have multiple people who can get hot on any given night."

Marxen has hit 49 3-pointers, which is the most for the program since McCalle Feller's 75 in 2015-16. Just four seasons ago, Gabi Harrington led Montana with 24 made 3-pointers.

"It's worth three points and not two, so that's always a plus," said Holsinger of shooting from the arc. "I think we pass up some threes that we don't shoot that we need to shoot. We're getting better at that."

Montana notes:

* Montana's five leading scorers – Gfeller, Fatkin, Marxen, Stump, Konig – all have at least one 20-point scoring game this season. They have combined to produce 15 20-point scoring games.

* Libby Stump is averaging 10.1 points. She is on pace to be the first Montana true freshman since Hollie Tyler in 2001-02 to play a full season and average at least 10 points. Of the 35 players who have scored 1,000 points in program history, only four of them averaged 10 or more points as a freshman.

* Montana ended the regular season ranking second in the Big Sky in scoring (70.5/g), eighth in scoring defense (68.9/g), second in field goal percentage (.420) and second in 3-point field goal percentage (.348).

* Since moving into the starting lineup 10 games ago, Dani Bartsch is averaging 11.5 rebounds. She has grabbed 12 or more in six of the last seven games, with a season-high 17 in Montana's road win at Northern Arizona. Her season average of 7.9 ranks fourth in the Big Sky.

* Gina Marxen ranks third in the Big Sky in free throw percentage, 32nd nationally. She has gone 85 for 98 (.867). That percentage would rank fifth in program history.

* Marxen ranks second in the Big Sky in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.0), with 93 assists, 46 turnovers.

* Montana ranks in the top 50 nationally in six categories: 15th in fewest fouls (13.6/g), 32nd in free throw percentage (.770), 34th in 3-point field goals made (8.1/g), 35th in defensive rebounds (28.2/g), 42nd in fewest turnovers (13.5/g) and 43rd in 3-point field goal percentage (.348).

* Seven of Montana's eight Big Sky losses have come by nine or fewer points. Four of the losses were by one or two points.

* Haley Huard missed the last three games for Montana. She is expected to be back for the postseason.

* Senior Sammy Fatkin is the lone player to start all 29 games this season for the Lady Griz, Fatkin and freshmen Libby Stump and Mack Konig are the only Lady Griz to play in all 29 games.

* It was announced last week that Carmen Gfeller will return in 2023-24. Nine of Montana's 10 leading scorers have the potential of returning next season.

* Montana is 2-4 all-time as the No. 5 seed. The Lady Griz were most recently the No. 5 seed last season and lost 75-57 to No. 4 Northern Arizona. Montana's last win as the No. 5 seed was a 78-63 win over No. 12 Northern Arizona in 2016, the first of three years the tournament was held in Reno.

* Montana is 7-5 in quarterfinal games and has lost four straight games in that round.

* Montana is 0-2 in neutral-site games this season, losing to Wichita State and California at Loyola Marymount's tournament over Thanksgiving.

* Sammy Fatkin is one point away from 800 for her time at Montana. … Fatkin's 21 points on Monday night was her seventh time this season reaching 20. … Fatkin's 12 rebounds on Monday night matched a career high and gave Fatkin her second career double-double.

* Gina Marxen has scored in double figures in seven straight games, Carmen Gfeller in nine of the last 10. … The last 10 games, Marxen is 25 for 46 (.543) from 3-point range. The last eight she has hit multiple 3-pointers.

* Facing Portland State, Sacramento State and Idaho in a span of five days, Dani Bartsch went 12 for 20 from the field. She matched a career high with three 3-pointers against the Vandals.

* Montana hit 11 3-pointers against Idaho on Monday night. It marked the ninth time this season the Lady Griz have hit 10 or more in a game, a program record. The 2013-14 team did it eight times.

Upcoming: To be determined.

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Players Mentioned

Dani Bartsch

Sammy Fatkin

Carmen Gfeller

Haley Huard

Mack Konig

Gina Marxen

Libby Stump

University of Montana Athletics