Lady Griz right back at it

The Montana women's basketball team, coming off a road trip that had the Lady Griz playing at North Dakota on Thursday and at Minnesota on Sunday, will close out its November schedule on Tuesday with a home game against Evergreen State.

The Lady Griz (3-3) and Geoducks (0-2) will tip off at 7 p.m. inside Dahlberg Arena.

Montana defeated North Dakota 71-59 and lost to unbeaten Minnesota 84-45 on its road trip and sits at .500 through six games.

After closing out a busy month on Tuesday with its seventh game of November, Montana will play only four games in December, only one of those at home.

The Lady Griz will play at North Dakota State and host South Dakota State as part of the Big Sky Conference-Summit League Challenge, then face Michigan State and Tulsa at the West Palm Beach Classic shortly before Christmas.

Montana's Big Sky schedule opens in early January with home games against defending champion Eastern Washington and Idaho.

Coverage: Tuesday's game will stream on ESPN+ and be broadcast on KGRZ 1450 AM/92.7 FM and KGRZMissoula.com, with Ace Sauerwein on the call.

At a glance (Montana): The Lady Griz opened their road trip to the Midwest with a 12-point win at North Dakota on Thursday in a game that wasn't quite that close thanks to a big first half for the Lady Griz.

Montana went 8 for 16 from the 3-point line over the opening 20 minutes and shot 48.6 percent overall to race out to a 46-28 halftime lead. North Dakota would get no closer than nine in the second half, and Montana's fourth quarter lead would remain at least a dozen.

Dani Bartsch matched a career high with five 3-pointers, all coming in the first half, and finished with 15 points. Mack Konig had 12 points and five assists, Tyler McCliment-Call went 5 for 7 and scored 13 points off the bench.

On Sunday, Minnesota opened the game hitting just one of its first eight shots before closing the first quarter with a flourish, going eight for its final 11. Throw in a pair of 3-pointers and a 9-for-10 effort from the free throw line and the Gophers led 29-7 after 10 minutes.

Montana would never recover, falling behind 52-22 at the half, then getting outscored by nine over the final 20 minutes.

The Gophers scored all their points either in the paint (38), from the 3-point line (33) or at the free throw line (13). Minnesota had 24 assists on its 30 made baskets and turned the ball over only seven times while out-rebounding Montana 55-35.

The Lady Griz shot 25.5 percent, their lowest percentage since shooting 23.3 percent in a loss to California at Loyola Marymount's Thanksgiving Classic two years ago.

Konig scored 12 points, Adria Lincoln added 10, her third career game in double figures. Montana's bench, which went 3 for 20, was outscored for the first time this season.

Minnesota was the second of three opponents from the Big Ten that Montana will face before January. The Lady Griz hosted and defeated Washington and will face Michigan State at the West Palm Beach Classic.

Montana also will play two of the nation's top mid-major programs. The Lady Griz opened the season at Gonzaga and will host South Dakota State next month.

"We put this schedule together not because we wanted to go undefeated," said coach Brian Holsinger. "Everybody wants to win every game, but you learn a lot more about your team from losses."

Montana had two things going against it on Sunday. The Lady Griz had handed Washington, also of the Big Ten, a defeat the previous Sunday, notable in a league that on Monday afternoon had a collective record of 91-15. And the Gophers were playing without their leading scorer.

"We were set up for an adverse situation," said Holsinger. "You start to feel good, that you can compete no matter what, then you realize there are teams out there who are going to take you seriously because you beat somebody in their league.

"They came out and punched us right from the start. It's an opportunity for us to grow more than anything."

Playing without teammate Mara Braun, who averaged 17.0 points last season and was scoring 13.6 this year through the first five games before getting injured, Minnesota's starters all were in double figures on Sunday, totaling 67 points.

"They had lost one of their better players. When that happens, a team is on high alert. Everybody else is ready to step up," said Holsinger. "We caught them like that and didn't come out ready to go from the beginning. It was a long afternoon because of it."

Montana won't have to wait long to return to the court. The Lady Griz host Evergreen State, an NAIA program out of the Cascade Collegiate Conference, on Tuesday at 7 p.m.

It's the type of schedule Montana will face twice in league, getting home games on Thursday and Saturday, then playing a Monday game on the road.

"We scheduled like this because we have this type of scenario in conference," added Holsinger. "You have to be able to bounce back quickly and play better and fix the things you need to fix.

"I think it's good to do this right before Thanksgiving when we don't have any games, just to try to fix some of the things we didn't do well on Sunday. I'm excited to get back on the court with our team."

At a glance (Evergreen State): The Geoducks (pronounced gooey-ducks) will enter Tuesday's game with an official record of 0-2 but have played five games, including scrimmages against Olympic College and Edmonds Community College, and Saturday's exhibition at Seattle University.

Tuesday's game also will be an exhibition for Evergreen State, a school of 2,000-plus students in Olympia, Wash., that was founded in 1967.

Under first-year coach Derrick Pringle, the Geoducks lost their first two official games 57-25 at Saint Martin's and at home to Pacific Lutheran, 60-46.

Through two games, Evergreen State is averaging 35.5 points on 25.2 percent shooting while getting out-rebounded by more than 17 a game. The Geoducks have gone 4 for 29 (.138) from the 3-point line.

Senior 6-foot-3 forward Jalyn Sackrider is averaging 12.5 points and 8.0 rebounds, both team highs.

On Saturday, Evergreen State lost an exhibition game at Seattle 88-43. The Geoducks trailed 53-15 at the half against a team picked to finish last in the WAC.

Sackrider had a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Allison DeBerry added 11 points, hitting three 3-pointers. Their teammates went 8 for 45 (.178).

The Geoducks went 9-16 a year ago and finished seventh out of 12 teams in the Cascade Collegiate Conference, going 9-13 in league.

In July it was announced that former coach Jackie Robinson was stepping down to take an assistant job at Boise State. Pringle was announced just last month as the new head coach.

The Geoducks were picked seventh in this year's preseason Cascade Collegiate Conference poll.

Upcoming: Montana will face North Dakota State and South Dakota State next week as part of the Big Sky Conference-Summit League Challenge.

The Jackrabbits were picked to win the Summit League. SDSU has gone unbeaten in league three times in the last four years.

The Bison, who ended Montana's season a year ago in the second round of the WNIT, were picked third in the Summit preseason poll.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Dani Bartsch

Mack Konig

Adria Lincoln

Tyler McCliment-Call

University of Montana Athletics