Montana falls to Tulsa in Florida

Friday, December 20

West Palm Beach, Fla.

10 AM (MT)

Montana

4-7

Tulsa

6-5

Montana

Tulsa

Photo by: çBill Jarvis

12/20/2024 1:12:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

By: Montana Sports Information

The Montana women's basketball team lost its final game of the West Palm Beach Classic on Friday, falling to defending American Athletic Conference champion Tulsa 68-58 at Rubin Arena in Florida.

The Golden Hurricane (6-5) lead from start to finish to win their fourth consecutive game.

The Lady Griz (4-7) fell behind 6-0 in the opening minute and trailed by 11, 35-24, midway through the second quarter before pulling within six at the half, 37-31.

Montana went 11 for 20 (.550) in the first half but had nearly as many turnovers (19) as shots through the opening 20 minutes.

Tulsa had only four turnovers in the first half and led at the break despite shooting 35.9 percent, thanks to 19 more shot attempts than Montana had.

The Golden Hurricane scored 20 points off Lady Griz turnovers in the first half.

Montana, which cut its turnover total to 10 in the second half, pulled within two, 39-37, on a basket by Tyler McCliment-Call with 7:10 left in the third quarter.

Tulsa answered with a 13-0 run to retake control, going up 52-37, but Montana wasn't done.

MJ Bruno hit a 3-pointer late in the period, Avery Waddington finished an and-one three-point play and after a late Tulsa turnover, Bruno ended the period with a buzzer-beating three from 30 feet out.

That flourish made it 53-46 entering the fourth quarter and gave Montana a chance at making a comeback.

And the Lady Griz nearly did.

After pulling within three, 59-56, Montana had a pair of possessions to get closer but a runner at the basket rolled off the rim and an open 3-pointer that would have tied it was off the mark.

Tulsa went scoreless for nearly five and a half minutes of the fourth quarter. After Montana's missed 3-pointer with 2:24 left that could have evened things, the Golden Hurricane put the game out of reach.

Delanie Crawford, who would lead both teams with 26 points, hit a dagger three with 2:12 to go, then converted an and-one layup with 1:50 left that pushed the Tulsa lead back to nine, 65-56.

Montana had only two turnovers in the fourth quarter but the shooting wasn't there to complete the comeback. The Lady Griz went 5 for 16 (.313) in the final period.

Mack Konig led Montana with 15 points and five assists. Waddington, in her first collegiate start, added 10 points, her fourth double-figure scoring game of the season. She led the team with nine rebounds.

Konig went 3 for 5 from the 3-point line and Bruno and Waddington combined to go 3 for 3 from the arc. Montana finished 7 for 15 from distance.

Konig's first 3-pointer of the game gave her 100 for her career. She becomes only the 15th player in program history to reach that milestone.

The Lady Griz shot 46.8 percent overall, their sixth time in 11 games this season shooting 46 percent or better.

Montana won't play again until opening its Big Sky Conference schedule with home games against Eastern Washington and Idaho on Jan. 2 and 4.