Lady Griz open Challenge with familiar foe

Wednesday, December 4

Fargo, N.D.

6 PM (MT)

Montana

North Dakota State

Photo by: Taylor Decker/University of Montana

12/3/2024 12:15:00 PM | Women's Basketball

PDF Game Notes

By: Montana Sports Information

The Montana women's basketball team will open its two-game Big Sky Conference-Summit League Challenge schedule on Wednesday with a game at North Dakota State.

The Lady Griz (4-3) and Bison (4-3) will tip off at 6 p.m. (MT) at Scheels Center in Fargo.

Montana's home game in the Challenge, which is in its second year, will come against Summit League favorite South Dakota State on Saturday at 2 p.m. at Dahlberg Arena.

The Lady Griz and Bison, who will be playing for the fourth consecutive season, both were picked third in their leagues' preseason polls, Montana coming in behind Northern Arizona and Montana State, North Dakota State behind South Dakota State and Oral Roberts.

The teams played a home-and-home series in 2021-22 and 2022-23, both winning 65-63 on the other's home floor, then met in March in the WNIT in Fargo, with the Bison leading the game's final 25 minutes and winning 72-63 in the round of 32.

Coverage: Wednesday's game will be on the Summit League Network. Ace Sauerwein's local call can be heard on KGRZ 1450 AM/92.7 FM or KGRZMissoula.com.

Challenge history: This is the second year of the Big Sky Conference-Summit League Challenge. Montana went 2-0 last year, winning 74-61 at home over South Dakota and 81-60 at Omaha.

North Dakota State went 1-1 with wildly different games, losing 65-45 at Montana State, then three days later winning 99-73 at home over Northern Arizona, with a 61-point second half.

The Bison shot 26.0 percent against the Bobcats, going 3 for 19 from the 3-point line. Against the Lumberjacks, NDSU shot 55.9 percent and went 12 for 22 from the 3-point line.

Series history: Three of the teams' five all-time meetings have come the previous three seasons. North Dakota State leads the series 3-2 with the teams splitting their two matchups in Fargo.

In 2021-22, Montana rallied from a 10-point third-quarter deficit to win 65-63 in Fargo on a shot by Carmen Gfeller at the buzzer.

The next year, in 2022-23, the teams opened their seasons against each other in Missoula, with the Bison again building a 10-point third-quarter lead.

And again the Lady Griz rallied, going up 63-61 on a basket by Sammy Fatkin with 58 seconds left. But Elle Evans scored the game's final four points, the Bison winning 65-63 when a Gina Marxen 3-pointer at the buzzer came up short.

Last season the teams met in the round of 32 in the WNIT, Montana advancing out of the first round with a 92-66 home win over Boise State, North Dakota State getting a bye to the second round.

Montana went 11 for 24 from the 3-point line, but North Dakota State's 38 points in the paint were the difference, as was the Bison's 17-for-18 performance at the free throw line.

The teams first met early in the 1977-78 season in Bozeman, Montana winning 58-49. The teams would not play again until the 2013-14 season at Loyola Marymount's Thanksgiving tournament. The Bison held the Lady Griz to 30.8 percent shooting to win 70-53.

At a glance (Montana): The Lady Griz are 4-3 after playing a seven-game November schedule for the first time in program history.

Montana will play only four games in December, two this week as part of the Big Sky-Summit Challenge and games against Michigan State and Tulsa at the West Palm Beach Classic before Christmas.

After falling at Minnesota 84-45 on Sunday, Nov. 24, Montana bounced back last Tuesday with a 107-56 home win over NAIA Evergreen State, coming within a point of matching the program record for points scored in a game.

Tyler McCliment-Call, who averaged 5.5 points on 30.8 percent shooting through the season's first six games, had a breakout performance, scoring 27 points on 9-of-11 shooting, with five 3-pointers.

She had 19 at the half on her way to 27, her first-half output matching her previous collegiate best, the 19 points she scored against North Texas-Dallas last season at Stephen F. Austin.

It was a breakout game for all three of Montana's first-year transfers.

Izabella Zingaro scored 12 points on 6-of-7 shooting. Her previous collegiate high were the 11 points she scored against Kansas two seasons ago at Iowa State. Zingaro is shooting 19 for 24 (.792) this season.

Abby Shubert also scored 12 points, going 4 for 8 from the 3-point line. Her previous collegiate high was eight points scored against Southeastern earlier this season.

Montana's bench scored 70 points, the Lady Griz scored 58 in the paint, and Montana shot 51.9 percent with a season-low seven turnovers.

The team's 59 rebounds were the most for the program since the Lady Griz grabbed 62 in a 79-54 home win over Sacramento State during the 2011-12 season.

Montana's 107 points were one shy of the 108 the Lady Griz scored last season in a home win over Dickinson State.

The win moved Montana to 3-1 at home this season, two of those victories against non-Division I opponents, the other against Washington, which is 7-2, the Huskies' only other loss coming by a point against No. 7 LSU.

With McCliment-Call leading the team in scoring against Evergreen State, Montana now has had five players lead the team in scoring through seven games: Avery Waddington, Dani Bartsch, Mack Konig, Alex Pirog and McCliment-Call.

Montana ranks in the top 50 nationally in five statistical categories: bench points (20th, 33.3/g), defensive rebounds (33rd, 29.0/g), free throw percentage (34th, .767) 3-pointers attempted (35th, 25.9/g) and 3-pointers made (42nd, 8.3/g).

Mack Konig ranks 37th nationally in assists per game (5.3).

Montana has only one player scoring in double figures through seven games, Mack Konig at 11.1, but nine players have scored 10 or more points in a game this season.

The game against Evergreen State marked the collegiate debuts of Kavanah Lene and Chloe Larsen, both true freshmen. Lene had six points, two assists and two rebounds in 10 minutes, while Larsen had two rebounds and an assist in eight minutes.

At a glance (North Dakota State): The Bison ended last season with 22 wins, their season coming to a close one game after defeating Montana, falling 69-65 at Minnesota in the round of 16 in the WNIT.

Down 14 going into the fourth quarter, 58-44, NDSU, which opened the final period making seven of eight shots, had a 65-62 lead with two minutes left but went 0 for 2 with a pair of turnovers down the stretch, which allowed the Gophers to survive and advance.

The team's two leading scorers last season, Elle Evans (15.5/g) and Heaven Hamling (14.8/g), are both gone. Evans is averaging 13.0 points for a good Kansas team. Hamling graduated after scoring 1,722 career points as a Bison.

Leading the team through seven games this season are 6-foot-2 sophomore forward Avery Koenen and sophomore guard Molly Lenz, in her first season at NDSU after transferring from Illinois State. Both are averaging 11.0 points per game.

Despite not having a player among the 11 on the preseason All-Summit League teams, North Dakota State was picked third in the Summit preseason poll, with a first-place vote.

After opening the season with an 84-78 home loss to Drake, a game NDSU led by 15 in the second quarter and by 10 at the half, the Bison rattled off three straight wins, over Eastern Illinois, Jamestown and Vermont.

Two losses followed, to Troy at the Great Alaska Shootout and on the road at Charleston Southern on Friday. North Dakota State improved to 4-3 with a 72-59 win at College of Charleston on Sunday, with Lenz hitting five 3-pointers on her way to 17 points.

Koenen and Lenz have started all seven games, as have Abbie Draper and Abby Schulte. Draper had 18 points and seven rebounds in NDSU's WNIT win over Montana, Schulte had 12 points, five assists and five rebounds.

North Dakota State is coached by Jory Collins, who is in his sixth year.

Wednesday in the Big Sky Conference-Summit League Challenge: Oral Roberts at Northern Arizona, Eastern Washington at South Dakota State, Northern Colorado at St. Thomas, South Dakota at Montana State, Weber State at North Dakota, Montana at North Dakota State, Denver at Idaho State, Kansas City at Sacramento State, Omaha at Portland State.

Saturday in the Big Sky Conference-Summit League Challenge: Northern Arizona at South Dakota, Portland State at Denver, Sacramento State at Omaha, Idaho State at Kansas City, South Dakota State at Montana, North Dakota at Northern Colorado, St. Thomas at Idaho, North Dakota State at Eastern Washington, Montana State at Oral Roberts.

* The top three teams in the Big Sky in Monday's NET rankings: Northern Arizona (59), Montana State (74) and Idaho (93).

* The rest: Northern Colorado (121), Portland State (194), Sacramento State (205), Montana (220), Eastern Washington (259), Idaho State (260) and Weber State (316).

* The top three teams in the Summit in Monday's NET rankings: South Dakota State (41), Oral Roberts (80) and North Dakota State (182).

* The rest: Denver (190), Omaha (209), St. Thomas (213), South Dakota (265), North Dakota (295), Kansas City (296).

* Wednesday's marquee matchup (lowest combined NET rankings): Oral Roberts (80) at Northern Arizona (59). The Golden Eagles are 5-1, their only loss at now 7-1 Oklahoma State. The Lumberjacks are 7-1, their only loss by 14 at Mountain West favorite UNLV.

* Saturday's marquee matchup (lowest combined NET rankings): Montana State (74) at Oral Roberts (80). Three days after facing the one-loss Lumberjacks, the Golden Eagles will host the one-loss Bobcats, whose lone setback came at Utah, which is 6-2 and coming off a 78-67 win over No. 3 Notre Dame.

Opponent notes:

* Montana's season-opening opponent, Gonzaga, is 4-5 and under .500 on Dec. 1 for the first time since the 2005-06 season. Four of the Bulldogs' five losses have been by 18 or more points. Gonzaga lost four games all of last season.

* Minnesota sits atop the Big Ten standings at 9-0 but is eighth in the league in NET rankings because of its strength of schedule. The Gophers will play their first true road game of the season on Sunday at 6-1 and No. 25 Nebraska

Upcoming: Montana will get its shot on Saturday against the Jackrabbits, who have a pair of wins this season over ranked opponents: Creighton and Oregon. SDSU's two losses, by four and 14 points, have come against Duke, another ranked opponent, and Georgia Tech. Those two teams are a combined 15-1.

The teams will tip off at 2 p.m. on Saturday. Montana is 0-2 all-time against South Dakota State, falling 64-59 in Cancun in 2008-09 and 84-43 in Iowa City in 2016-17.