Lady Griz look to put out Fire

The Montana women's basketball team will play its home opener on Sunday afternoon when it hosts Southeastern University inside Dahlberg Arena.

The Lady Griz (0-1) and Fire (4-1), an NAIA program out of Lakeland, Fla., will tip off at 3 p.m. on Robin Selvig Court. The game is being counted as an exhibition by the Fire.

Southeastern faced Montana Tech on Friday night in Dillon, losing for the first time this season, 68-59. The Fire will play Montana Western on Saturday night.

The matchup kicks off a three-game home stand for Montana, which opened its season with an 82-69 loss at Gonzaga on Tuesday night.

The Lady Griz will host Cal Poly on Thursday night, Washington next Sunday afternoon.

Coverage: Sunday's game will have radio coverage on KGRZ 1450 AM/92.7 FM with Riley Corcoran on the call. The game will not be available on ESPN+.

At a glance (Montana): The Lady Griz opened their season with an 82-69 setback at Gonzaga on Tuesday night.

Montana shot 50 percent but couldn't overcome a slow start and the Bulldogs' hot hands from the 3-point line, where they shot 11 for 21 (.524).

Gonzaga built a 10-point lead before the game was five minutes old, led 31-15 after the first quarter and went up 25 in the second.

Montana trailed 49-30 at the half and cut its deficit to 13 midway through the third quarter, with an open shot from the 3-point line that could have made it a 10-point game.

The Bulldogs scored the next five points to make it 56-38. The final margin of 13 points would be as close as the Lady Griz would get the rest of the way.

Freshman Avery Waddington led Montana in scoring (13), rebounding (5) and steals (3) in her collegiate debut.

It was the most points scored by a true freshman in her Lady Griz debut since Willa Albrecht scored 14 at Utah State in Montana's season opener in the 2020-21 season.

Mack Konig had 11 points and seven assists, one assist off her career high, and Adria Lincoln added 10 points off the bench.

Alex Pirog and Izabella Zingaro both went 4 for 4 for nine points. Combined with Lincoln, who went 4 for 5, that trio went 12 for 13 to help Montana outscore Gonzaga in the paint 38-24.

Freshman Allie Turner went 5 for 8 from the 3-point line to lead the Bulldogs with 18 points off the bench.

Yvonne Ejim, on national player of the year watch lists, had a 17-point, 10-rebound double-double. UConn transfer point guard Ines Bettencourt had 16 points, five assists.

At a glance (Southeastern): The Fire, whose home gym is The Furnace, went 200-19 between the 2015-16 and 2021-22 seasons and have played in eight NAIA national tournaments since 2014.

Southeastern went 22-8 last season, won the Sun Conference with an 11-3 league record, then hosted and won the conference tournament to make the NAIA tournament.

Coach Brian Neal departed in the offseason to take over NAIA powerhouse Thomas More, with Joshua Epperson being hired by Southeastern in May to take over the Fire.

Epperson coached previously at Freed-Hardeman, another NAIA tournament regular.

The Fire opened the season with four straight wins, scoring 75 or more points in each game, before falling 68-59 to Montana Tech on Friday in a neutral-site game in Dillon.

Southeastern was outscored 37-21 over the second and third quarters.

The Fire are led in scoring by guard Jodi Mullins, who played two seasons at Kennesaw (Ga.) State and two more at the University of Indianapolis before landing at Southeastern for her fifth year.

Mullins is averaging 15.6 points on 56.4 percent shooting, with a 23-point game on 9-of-13 shooting in Southeastern's 76-52 home win against Thomas University.

Mya Herman is averaging 13.2 points, Grace Field, a transfer from Ave Maria, a Sun Conference rival, is averaging 10.8 points and a team-leading 6.0 rebounds.

Anaya Coleman, a transfer from Monmouth, averages 9.6 points and leads the Fire in assists.

Through five games, Southeastern is averaging 75.8 points on 46.8 percent shooting and has hit 43 3-pointers on 35.8 percent shooting from the arc.

Montana in home openers: In the modern era of Lady Griz basketball, since the 1978-79 season, Montana is 38-8 in home openers.

The Lady Griz are 1-2 in home openers under fourth-year coach Brian Holsinger, falling to North Dakota State by two points two years ago, to Gonzaga last season.

Montana against Florida schools: The Lady Griz are 3-6 against teams from Florida, having played Florida, Florida Atlantic, Florida Gulf Coast, Florida State, Miami and South Florida.

Montana is 3-0 at home against those schools:

Montana 60, Florida State 49 (Dec. 29, 2004): The Lady Griz handed the previously 12-0 Seminoles their first loss of the season in the championship game of the Lady Griz Classic.

Montana 83, Miami 74 (Dec. 16, 2005): A classic Mandy Morales game, 27 points, nine rebounds, six assists and four steals with 18 made free throws.

Montana 83, Florida Atlantic 69 (Dec. 19, 2015): McCalle Feller (34 points) and Kayleigh Valley (24) led the Lady Griz to a win in the opening round of the Lady Griz Classic.

Summary: While he didn't like the 31 points allowed in the first quarter or the 13-point loss, fourth-year Lady Griz coach Brian Holsinger liked a lot of the numbers from Tuesday's 82-69 loss at Gonzaga.

His team outscored the Bulldogs 38-24 in the paint, with Alex Pirog, Izabella Zingaro and Adria Lincoln combining to go 12 for 13. Overall, Montana was 19 for 31 (.613) in the paint.

Montana shot 50 percent, better than Gonzaga (.492). The last two teams to shoot 50 percent or better against the Bulldogs at home? The Lady Griz and Stanford.

Montana had fewer turnovers and more steals, outscored the Bulldogs from the free throw line, had a better assist-to-made-basket ratio and outscored the home team over the final three quarters.

But Gonzaga did what it does best, hit the 3-point shot and rebound.

The Bulldogs went 11 for 21 (.524) from the arc and outrebounded the Lady Griz 37-21, allowing only four offensive rebounds and three second-chance points.

"I'm encouraged overall," said Holsinger. "If we don't let that game push us way forward, we're missing an opportunity. We'll see on Sunday how far forward.

"I'm more optimistic from our game against them on their home court than I've been since we've played them, other than maybe our first year (a 67-60 Gonzaga win in Missoula)."

Montana was able to score 69 points on a borderline top-25 team on the road with Mack Konig going 4 for 17 and Dani Bartsch for no points and one rebound in 19 minutes.

"Dani is nowhere near where she is going to be a month from now," said Holsinger. "She is just not physically ready. That was hard for her, being limited in minutes.

"We've been practicing for a month and a half but it's only been the last week and a half that we've finally had our full team out on the floor. That's why I was realistic."

Montana never led in Tuesday's game, falling behind 10-2 and never catching up. "We obviously had a bad start. I don't know if it was nerves. I still don't know," said Holsinger.

Gonzaga went 5 for 7 from the 3-point line in the first quarter alone, with Allie Turner coming off the bench to hit both of her attempts from the arc. She would finish 5 for 8 and be the game's X factor.

"We didn't execute the scout. We let (Turner), a no-threes player, shoot eight, let alone that she made five. Those breakdowns you just can't have," said Holsinger.

"That's an early-season wake-up call. The details never matter until you get your butt kicked. Film was great. This is where we made mistakes, this is how urgent we have to be. Hopefully we learn from that."

After falling behind 46-21 in the second quarter and looking like it was going to lose an ugly one in its season opener, Montana closed the first half on a 9-3 run.

The Lady Griz then opened the third quarter on an 8-2 run, making it 17-5 over the two halves, and had an open-look 3-pointer at the top of the key that could have made it 51-41. It missed.

"I told them multiple times in the huddle, yes, we had a bad start, yes, we're down. Just keep fighting, keep trying to play right," said Holsinger.

"In the second half we beat them. But credit to Gonzaga. You have to make shots and they made shots. They did what they should do on their home court."

Montana scored 38 points in the paint only twice last season but did so on Tuesday against a team known for owning that part of the court.

"To be able to throw the ball inside against a team that has good size and prides itself on being a power-oriented team, why can't you do it against anybody? It was really encouraging," said Holsinger.

Montana went 5 for 17 from the 3-point line, half as many as the Lady Griz averaged per game last season. Aby Shubert went 2 for 4 from the arc off the bench.

"I thought we got good 3-point looks and should have probably hit a few more of them," said Holsinger. "We've got to make them."

Montana went 10 deep against Gonzaga, with half of those playing their first game in a Lady Griz uniform: Tyler McCliment-Call, Macy Donarski, Avery Waddington, Aby Shubert and Izabella Zingaro.

Zingaro (Iowa State), Shubert (Xavier) and McCliment-Call (Portland/Stephen F. Austin) all had previous college experience elsewhere. Donarski redshirted last season, Waddington is a true freshman.

In 21 minutes off the bench, Waddington went 6 for 10, hit a 3-pointer, led Montana in points, rebounds and steals and added a blocked shot. It was quite a debut.

"She was a factor and she's going to get better," said Holsinger. "She's going to be really, really good."

Five days after facing the Bulldogs, Montana will play with Fire.

"It's a game I really like," said Holsinger. "Our schedule is really tough, so this will be a great opportunity for us to do things better.

"For us, it's just continuing to do the right things, execute on both ends. That's what it's about. We didn't start Tuesday's game doing that and a good team made us pay. Can we do it for longer?"

Upcoming: Montana will host Cal Poly on Thursday at 8 p.m., Washington on Sunday, Nov. 17, at 2 p.m.

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Players Mentioned

Dani Bartsch

Macy Donarski

Mack Konig

Adria Lincoln

Tyler McCliment-Call

Alex Pirog

Aby Shubert

Avery Waddington

Izabella Zingaro

University of Montana Athletics