Lady Griz fall to Bobcats

Saturday, January 20

Bozeman, Mont.

2 PM

Montana

11-5, 3-2BSC

Montana State

9-9, 3-2BSC

Montana

Montana St.

1/20/2024 4:59:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Photo Gallery

By: Montana Sports Information

The start couldn't have gone any better for Montana on Saturday afternoon as the Lady Griz faced Montana State at Brick Breeden Fieldhouse in Bozeman.

A 19-5 lead, two Montana State timeouts before the game was six minutes old as the Bobcats tried to regroup. Ideal.

The end? That was unfortunately more of the same as Montana State rallied for a 64-55 victory, MSU's 10th straight win at home over Montana and its 15th in the teams' last 18 meetings overall.

The Bobcats, who outscored the Lady Griz in the second, third and fourth quarters, were within four at the half, 29-25, took a three-point lead, 44-41, into the fourth quarter, then made the kind of big shots down the stretch that are necessary to pull out a victory in a rivalry game.

"Completely disappointed in our team's effort," said Lady Griz coach Brian Holsinger. "Give credit to Montana State. Some of it was them, some of it was us. Really disappointing game for us."

The Bobcats built a pair of five-point leads early in the fourth quarter before 3-pointers from Gina Marxen and MJ Bruno and two Carmen Gfeller free throws tied the score at 53-53 with 3:45 to go.

Over the next two tense minutes, neither team scored until Natalie Picton, with 11 made threes through 17 games entering Saturday, hit her second of the game with 1:50 remaining, and Montana State would hold the lead through the end.

Montana had the ball down one with 40 seconds left but turned it over on an offensive foul. After Madison Hall put Montana State up 58-55, Montana got an open look at a 3-pointer with a chance to tie it with 18 second left, but it was off the mark.

Hall scored six of her season-high 18 points in the fourth quarter. She nearly doubled her season scoring average of 9.7 in the win.

"You've got to step up in those moments and make shots in games like this," Holsinger said. "We didn't. She stepped up in a senior moment and had 18 points. She made some big, big baskets in the fourth quarter."

Montana made it look like it was going to end nearly a decade of frustration in Bozeman in a big way at the start, with Maggie Espenmiller-McGraw hitting a 3-pointer on Montana's first possession and Gfeller and Bruno adding baskets inside to make it 7-0.

Timeout Montana State less than three minutes into the game.

Dani Bartsch hit back-to-back 3-pointers to make it 13-3, and Macey Huard's 3-pointer at the 4:19 mark put Montana up 16-3 and prompted another Bobcat timeout.

Less than a minute later, it was Marxen with a 3-pointer that made it 19-5, matching Montana's largest lead in a game at Montana State since the 2012-13 season.

After opening the game 7 for 11 with five made 3-pointers, the Lady Griz opened the door for the Bobcats by going more than nine minutes until their next made basket, a Bartsch 3-pointer at the 4:22 mark of the second quarter.

What had come so easily was now a chore.

"I'm not sure what changed, to be honest," said Holsinger. "I wish I knew. We came out playing right and got tentative. Hats off to Montana State. They played aggressive."

It would be the 10th time in its last 11 games that Montana State has held an opponent to 61 points or fewer.

"They play really good defense," Holsinger added. "They made it hard on us. We average 70-some points and we got 55. That's the biggest difference."

Montana rediscovered some offensive rhythm late in the second quarter and built its lead to eight on two occasions early in the third, but Montana State, trailing 36-28, held the Lady Griz to two baskets over the final 7:22 of the period.

Espenmiller-McGraw put Montana up 41-40, but Montana State would close the third quarter scoring four straight points, and the Lady Griz would never regain the lead.

Montana's 55 points were its second-fewest of the season, its fewest since the second game of the season on Nov. 14 against Washington State.

"We came out the way I envisioned it and went downhill," said Holsinger. "Their adjustments on the defensive end caused us a ton of problems after the first quarter."

Montana missed a free throw with 6:22 left in the fourth quarter that could have tied the score. Marah Dykstra, 4 for 25 from the 3-point line on the season at that point, answered with a 3-pointer.

After Bruno hit a 3-pointer with 5:42 left to make it 52-51, Montana would go the rest of the way without a made field goal, closing 0 for 6 with three turnovers.

"We made too many mistakes in everything we did," said Holsinger. "Not enough people did their jobs. You have to do your job over and over and over, and we made too many mistakes. And they capitalized.

"They hit a few big shots and we missed some shots. We didn't score the ball like we needed to after the first quarter to win on the road."

After a Montana miss on a 3-point attempt with 18 seconds left that could have tied the score, Montana State's Katelynn Limardo ended up crashing to the floor.

The game was delayed for nearly 30 minutes before paramedics stabilized her and rolled her off the court on a stretcher.

"Great competitor, great kid," said Holsinger. "I hope she's okay. Scary, obviously. You never want to see anyone get hurt. My thoughts and prayers that she's okay."

Montana State went 6 for 6 from the free-throw line in the final 14 seconds to give the Bobcats their final nine-point cushion, their largest of the game.

In addition to Hall's 18 points, Limardo finished with a 10-point, 10-rebound double-double.

Bartsch had 11 points, 11 rebounds and four assists, her third double-double of the season, the eighth of her career.

Gfeller had 10 points, eight rebounds and three blocks, her 15th straight game in double figures. Marxen added 10 points and five assists off the bench.

Montana shot 35.8 percent, its second-lowest percentage of the season, and had 20 turnovers, one off a season high.

The Lady Griz went 10 for 26 (.385) from the 3-point line, their 11th time with 10 or more makes this season, just 9 for 27 (.333) from inside the arc.

Montana (11-5, 3-2 BSC) will stay on the road and play a suddenly hot Weber State team on Monday night in Ogden.

The Wildcats (6-13, 3-3 BSC) won for the third time in four games with a 61-56 victory at Idaho on Saturday night.