Lady Griz open season at Gonzaga

The Montana women's basketball team will open its regular-season schedule on Tuesday evening with a game against West Coast Conference favorite and NCAA tournament regular Gonzaga.

The Lady Griz (0-0) and Bulldogs (0-0) will tip off at 7 p.m. (MT) in Spokane at Gonzaga's McCarthey Athletic Center, where the Bulldogs have a 36-game winning streak and are 273-34 all-time.

Montana has not defeated Gonzaga since the 2006-07 season and has won only once at the McCarthey Athletic Center since it opened in 2004.

The teams will go in opposite directions on the competitive spectrum for their next game. Gonzaga will play at Stanford on Sunday while Montana will host Southeastern University in Missoula.

That will be the start of a three-game home stand for the Lady Griz, who host Cal Poly on Thursday, Nov. 14, and Washington on Sunday, Nov. 17.

Coverage: Tuesday's season opener will stream on ESPN+ and can be heard on KGRZ 1450 AM/92.7 FM with Ace Sauerwein on the call.

Broadcast note: Because of the Big Sky Conference soccer tournament in Missoula, with the championship game scheduled for Sunday, Nov. 10, at 1 p.m., the Lady Griz game against Southeastern, which tips off at 3 p.m. that afternoon, will not have streaming on ESPN+ but will have radio coverage.

At a glance (Montana): After closed-door scrimmages against Utah Valley and Providence (MT) in October, the Lady Griz made their first public appearance on Friday night, defeating Montana Western 88-66 in an exhibition game at Dahlberg Arena.

The Lady Griz, who put up 56 first-half points, shot 48.2 percent for the game and hit 11 3-pointers on 42.3 percent shooting from the arc. Montana was +17 on the boards and outscored the Bulldogs 23-2 at the free throw line.

Montana went 23-10 a season ago, the program's first 20-win season since 2015-16, the last year the Lady Griz were coached by Robin Selvig.

Montana, which lost in the semifinals of the Big Sky tournament in Boise to Northern Arizona, was selected to play in the WNIT, the program's 28th national tournament appearance, and defeated Boise State at home, 92-66, before falling at North Dakota State in the round of 32.

The strength of last year's team was the 3-point shot. The Lady Griz hit 357 from the arc, a program record and the fifth-most in Big Sky history.

Montana had four players who made 50 or more and ranked second nationally, behind only Iowa, in threes made per game (10.8). Gonzaga (9.3/g) ranked eighth in the nation.

The Lady Griz lost three of their top four scorers from a year ago to graduation, four of their top six overall, and have three starters returning: seniors Dani Bartsch and MJ Bruno, and junior Mack Konig.

Bartsch was voted second-team All-Big Sky last season and to the Big Sky All-Defensive Team. She set a new program record for rebounds in a season (342) and became the first Lady Griz to lead the Big Sky in rebounding (10.4/g) since 1995-96.

Bartsch needs 259 rebounds this season to surpass Hollie Tyler's program record of 952. If she reaches 306 this season, she would become only the eighth player in Big Sky history to reach 1,000.

Coach Brian Holsinger, who enters his fourth season at Montana with a record of 56-37, brought in three true freshmen and three transfers: graduate student Tyler McCliment-Call (Stephen F. Austin), redshirt junior Izabella Zingaro (Iowa State) and sophomore Aby Shubert (Xavier).

Those three transfers combined to score 30 points on Friday night against Montana Western on 11-of-17 shooting.

Montana was picked third in the Big Sky preseason coaches' poll behind Northern Arizona and Montana State. The Lumberjacks finished second behind Eastern Washington in the Big Sky last season and lost to the Eagles in the Big Sky tournament championship game in Boise.

Bartsch was voted to this year's six-player Preseason All-Big Sky Team.

One-third of Montana's 15-player roster will be making their collegiate debut the first time they play this season: redshirt freshmen Macy Donarski and Draya Wacker, and true freshmen Chloe Larsen (Missoula), Kavanah Lene (Christchurch, New Zealand) and Avery Waddington (Coeur d'Alene, Idaho).

McCliment-Call and Bruno will be returning to their hometown of Spokane for Tuesday's game. McCliment-Call went to University High, Bruno to Central Valley High. Both began their collegiate careers at Portland. Waddington is from nearby Coeur d'Alene.

Bruno was part of a victory over Gonzaga when Portland knocked off the Bulldogs 64-60 in the 2023 West Coast Conference championship game in Las Vegas.

At a glance (Gonzaga): The Bulldogs emerged as a mid-major power two decades ago under Kelly Graves, now the coach at Oregon, and have continued that under Lisa Fortier, who begins her 11th season at the school with a record of 265-63.

Gonzaga has played in 15 NCAA tournaments since 2006-07 and has failed to make a national tournament, either NCAA or WNIT, only once since 2003-04.

After having a similar look personnel-wise the last few seasons, the Bulldogs have only one starter back this year but it's a player, Yvonne Ejim, who is one of the best in the country. She was named last month to the Naismith Trophy Women's College Player of the Year Watch List, one of only 50 to be so named.

Ejim, a 6-foot-1 forward, was the WCC Player of the Year last season in addition to being voted the league's Defensive Player of the Year. She averaged 19.7 points and 8.7 rebounds last season and enters her fifth year with 1,659 career points and 815 rebounds.

She'll likely conclude her career as Gonzaga's all-time leading scorer and rebounder after taking advantage of a fifth year of eligibility.

The Bulldogs' six other returners from last year's team combined to score 320 points last season, less than nine per game between them.

To aid the transition to a new era, Fortier brought in two true freshmen and four transfers, including Ines Bettencourt from Connecticut and McKynnlie Dalan from Minnesota. Tayla Dalton, a graduate student who started 83 games at Saint Mary's over four years, also joined the Bulldogs for a fifth year.

Gonzaga had another successful season last year, going 32-4 and advancing to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament. The program has won 23 or more games in 17 of the last 18 seasons.

The Bulldogs lost twice in November, in overtime at Washington State, and against No. 20 Louisville at the Betty Chancellor Classic in Katy, Texas. They would not lose again until March, in the championship game of the WCC tournament, falling 67-66 to Portland.

Gonzaga earned an at-large No. 4 seed to the NCAA tournament and defeated No. 13 UC Irvine, 75-56, and No. 5 Utah, 77-66, at home before falling to No. 1-seed Texas 69-47 in Portland in the round of 32.

Despite the personnel turnover and the WCC's addition to two strong programs in Washington State and Oregon State, Gonzaga found itself in a familiar spot last month, atop the WCC preseason coaches' poll, but by only a single point over the Cougars.

Gonzaga received five first-place votes, Washington State, Portland and Oregon State each picked up two.

Ejim and senior Maud Huijbens, who averaged 6.3 points and 3.6 rebounds last season, were voted to the 10-player WCC preseason team.

Gonzaga begins the season just outside of the top 25 in both national polls, essentially No. 26 in the coaches' poll, 31 in the AP poll.

Series history: Gonzaga leads the all-time series 18-17. The Bulldogs are the only opponent Montana has faced 25 times or more in its history and has a losing record against.

Montana owned the series in the 1980s and 90s, winning the teams' first 10 matchups and 13 of the first 14, but the tide shifted under Kelly Graves and has remained one-sided over the last two decades.

Gonzaga has won the last 11 matchups overall, the last six in Spokane. Montana's last win in the series was an 88-78 victory in Missoula in 2006-07. Its last win in Spokane was a 72-60 victory in 2005-06 to become the first visiting team, men's or women's, to win in the McCarthey Athletic Center.

Gonzaga went 16-0 at home last season, 15-0 at home in 2022-23. The Bulldogs' last home loss was a 62-50 setback against No. 16 BYU in February 2022.

Montana has faced Gonzaga in each of fourth-year coach Brian Holsinger's first three seasons with the Lady Griz. Gonzaga won 67-60 in 2021-22 and 83-70 last year in Missoula, and won 82-67 in 2022-23 in Spokane.

Summary: After playing two closed-door scrimmages last month, Montana made it a little more real on Friday night, hosting Montana Western inside Dahlberg Arena in front of fans.

The Lady Griz had a big first half, putting up 56 points, then had a third-quarter defensive lull before pulling away over the final 10 minutes, winning 88-66.

"The first half showed a lot of improvement from our closed scrimmages, which is what you'd expect," said coach Brian Holsinger. "We've had kids in and out of practice constantly, so some of our rust came from people not playing together very much."

The Bulldogs went just 10 deep, all of whom had perimeter skills. "It's tricky playing against a team like Montana Western that plays five-out and has essentially five guards. That's completely different than what we'll see on Tuesday. It was a good challenge for us."

Montana went 14 deep, with 10 players going 10 or more minutes.

"I was proud of our first half for sure," added Holsinger. "Our second half, like any team, if you don't stay urgent and on top of things, teams are capable of making shots and making it interesting. I liked how we responded down the stretch and pulled away."

Montana will be challenged in its first regular-season game on Tuesday, facing Gonzaga. It's a tough team to defeat, made even more difficult by the venue. But it's by design.

The Lady Griz opened with Gonzaga and Washington State last season, starting 0-2, but then won 10 of their next 11 on their way to a 23-win season.

"It will be a great test. We're a work in progress but we're getting better and better," said Holsinger. "The goal with games like this is to expose the things you have to improve on.

"My belief is the earlier you play these games, the quicker you improve and get to a place where we were at the end of last year, when we were pretty hard to beat."

Gonzaga returns only one starter from last year's 32-win team, but the Bulldogs have reloaded and aren't expected to drop off. The WCC preseason poll reflects that.

"They are picked to win the league again, even with Washington State and Oregon State. They are a top-25 team and have done a heck of a job," said Holsinger.

"They have one of the best players in the country. Anytime you have one of the best players in the country, you're going to be pretty good, and Yvonne Ejim is exceptional."

Montana played Gonzaga in Holsinger's second game at Montana, in 2021-22, and lost 67-60 at home, with the Truong sisters going for 28 points on 11-of-22 shooting.

Last year's matchup in Missoula was a one-point game early in the fourth quarter before Kaylynne Truong took over. She scored 14 points in the final period on 5-of-5 shooting to help the Bulldogs pull away and win 83-70.

Montana will need that type of performance if the Lady Griz want to go into the fourth quarter on Tuesday with a chance to win.

"You have to hit big shots. When you're on the road, somebody on your team has to step up and make a couple shots where it's, we're here and we're not intimidated," said Holsinger.

"The difference in our games the last few years has been the twins. They stepped up and made big plays down the stretch. That's been the difference. Hopefully that's one of our players this year instead of one of theirs. And then, of course, we can't make too many mistakes on defense."

Montana knows Gonzaga defeated the College of Idaho 79-39 on Friday night in the Bulldogs' own exhibition game and knows Ejim well but not much beyond that.

Of Gonzaga's departing players, Brynna Maxwell and Kaylynne Truong both were selected in the WNBA draft in April.

"They have a transfer point guard from UConn and anybody who's had a chance to play at UConn is pretty good," said Holsinger. "They have other players back who maybe didn't start but played good minutes.

"Do we know exactly what they're going to be like? Not exactly. Do we know they are going to rebound really hard and get the ball to their all-American-caliber forward? That's what they'll probably do."

In the teams' 2021-22 matchup in Missoula, Ejim was a reserve but came off the bench to contribute eight points, nine rebounds, four blocks and two steals in 22 minutes.

Two seasons ago, in Gonzaga's 82-67 win in Spokane, she was a starter and had 15 points on 6-of-9 shooting and nine rebounds.

Last year in Missoula she had 17 points on 7-of-12 shooting, nine rebounds, five assists and two blocks, her games against the Lady Griz over the years showing her progression.

"She's just an unbelievable athlete who runs the floor exceptionally hard in transition. She's really, really strong and over time has gotten more and more skilled, which is a credit to her. Her physicality, how athletic she is and how tough a rebounder she is is what really makes her special.

"Always against a Gonzaga team, you're going to have to battle on the boards. That's such a big key. We're going to have to rebound with them to have a chance."

Notes:

* Montana has dropped its first Division I game of the season in each of the last 10 years. Three of those have come against Gonzaga. Others have been against North Dakota State, Utah State, Fresno State, Wyoming, South Dakota State, Seattle and Pacific.

The last time Montana won its Division I opener came at home against Portland in 2013-14, a 68-61 victory in what was former coach Robin Selvig's 800th career victory.

* Montana plays seven games in November, all before Thanksgiving. The Lady Griz will play only four games in December, two as part of the Big Sky Conference-Summit League Challenge and two at the West Palm Beach Classic before Christmas.

* Tyler McCliment-Call begins the season with 696 collegiate points scored in one season at Portland and three at Stephen F. Austin. She scored 284 points (8.4/g) last season and would need 304 this year to reach 1,000 for her collegiate career.

Around the Big Sky Conference:

* Seven of the Big Sky's 10 teams open their season on Monday. Only two of those seven matchups – Northern Arizona at New Mexico and Eastern Washington at Washington State – are Division I matchups.

* One of Monday's non-Division I games is Chadron State at Montana State. Chadron State is led by two-time Big Sky Conference Coach of the Year Travis Brewster, who won those awards while coaching at North Dakota.

* On Thursday, Big Sky preseason favorite Northern Arizona plays at Mountain West preseason favorite UNLV.

* Portland State will be the last Big Sky team to open the season. The Vikings play their first game at home on Saturday night against Hawaii.

Upcoming: A three-game home stand, with Southeastern University, Cal Poly and Washington making visits to Missoula.

University of Montana Athletics

Players Mentioned

Dani Bartsch

MJ Bruno

Macy Donarski

Mack Konig

Chloe Larsen

Kavanah Lene

Tyler McCliment-Call

Aby Shubert

Draya Wacker

Avery Waddington

Izabella Zingaro

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