Lady Griz to face Hornets, Vikings on the road

The Montana women's basketball team will play games at Sacramento State and Portland State this week as the end of the regular season approaches.

The Lady Griz (17-7, 9-4 BSC) will face the Hornets (5-20, 4-10 BSC) at 7:30 p.m. (MT) on Thursday at The Nest in Sacramento and the Vikings (6-20, 1-13 BSC) on Saturday at 3 p.m. (MT) at Viking Pavilion in Portland.

After this week's road trip, Montana will have only three regular-season games remaining, home next week for Eastern Washington and Idaho, and at Idaho State on Monday, March 4.

The Big Sky Conference Championship will be held in Boise from Saturday, March 9, through Wednesday, March 13.

Montana takes a two-game winning streak into this week's games. The Lady Griz defeated Northern Colorado, 82-73, and Montana State, 72-50, at home in their last two games, which followed losses to league leaders Eastern Washington and Northern Arizona.

At a glance (Montana): After falling to Big Sky leaders Eastern Washington and Northern Arizona in back-to-back games to drop two games behind in the chase for the regular-season title, the Lady Griz bounced back with home wins over Northern Colorado and Montana State.

Montana had previously fallen to both the Bears and Bobcats on the road.

The Lady Griz played one of their most complete games of the season at home on Saturday afternoon against the Bobcats, leading from start to finish in a 72-50 win.

Montana held Montana State to its fewest points in the rivalry matchup since the 2014-15 season and defeated the Bobcats in Missoula for the second time in three seasons under coach Brian Holsinger.

Montana built a 38-29 halftime lead, then held the Bobcats to 21 second-half points on 7-of-23 shooting. The Lady Griz led 56-38 after three quarters and by 26 points in the fourth quarter, their largest lead on the Bobcats in a game since 2018.

The 50 points allowed by Montana were the fewest points scored by Montana State in the rivalry since a 62-48 Lady Griz win in January 2015, the second fewest since 2005. It was the second-fewest points allowed by Montana in a game this season.

Montana's five starters all scored between nine and 14 points as the Lady Griz shot 48.1 percent and went 14 for 27 (.519) from the 3-point line. It was the third-best shooting performance allowed by the Bobcats this season, only the fifth time this year they've allowed more than 70 points.

At a glance (Sacramento State): The Hornets dropped to 1-18 on the season, 0-8 in league, with an 84-57 loss at Montana on Jan. 27.

Sacramento State snapped its then 12-game losing streak with a 72-65 home win over Portland State in its next game, later went on a three-game winning streak, with home victories over Idaho State and Weber State, then last Thursday's surprising 82-66 win at Big Sky leader Northern Arizona.

Since losing at Montana, the Hornets have won four of six, their two losses by six points on the road, at Idaho and at Northern Colorado.

Sacramento State is averaging 56.2 points for the season, which ranks 321st nationally out of 349 Division I teams, but over their last six games, the Hornets are averaging 68.8 points on 44.0 percent shooting and have been making 8.3 3-pointers per game on 35.0 percent shooting from the arc.

Redshirt sophomore Benthe Versteeg is averaging 15.8 points and 9.5 assists the last six games. She totaled 44 points on 66.7 percent shooting and 27 assists in the Hornets' back-to-back wins over Weber State and Northern Arizona.

Starters Summah Hanson (15.2/g), Solape Amusan (13.3/g) and Irune Orio (10.8/g) also are averaging more than 10 points over the last six games.

Four of Sacramento State's five wins this season have come at home. The Hornets will take a three-game home-court winning streak into Thursday's game, the most recent victory at The Nest a 75-44 win over Weber State.

The first meeting: Montana won the first matchup against Sacramento State 84-57 in Missoula on Jan. 27. The Lady Griz set a program record with 19 made 3-pointers on 41 attempts (.463).

Maggie Espenmiller-McGraw and Dani Bartsch both hit five 3-pointers and six players hit two or more.

Montana shot 58.6 percent in the first half but still only led by 10 at the break, 45-35. The Lady Griz pulled away in the second half, outscoring the Hornets 39-22.

Espenmiller-McGraw had 19 points, Carmen Gfeller 17 and Bartsch a 15-point, 14-rebound double-double.

Solape Amusan hit four 3-pointers off the bench and shot 7 for 11 overall to score 19 points for the Hornets.

Montana held Sacramento State's five starters to 36 points on 27.3 percent shooting, with Versteeg scoring six points on 2-of-15 shooting. The Hornets shot 34.5 percent as a team, matching the best defensive effort by the Lady Griz this season against a Division I opponent.

Series history: Montana leads the all-time series with Sacramento State 48-9 and has gone 18-7 against the Hornets at The Nest.

The Lady Griz are 3-6 against the Hornets in the teams' last nine matchups in Sacramento, including last year's 63-56 loss to the team that would tie for a share of the Big Sky regular-season championship, win the tournament title and play in the NCAA tournament.

At a glance (Portland State): The Vikings, who host Montana State on Thursday night, enter the week on a two-game losing streak and holding just one Division I win since November, a 59-53 home victory over Idaho State on Feb. 10.

The Vikings average 56.4 points on 38.1 percent shooting while allowing their opponents to score 68.9 points on 46.5 percent shooting. That field goal percentage defense ranks 347th out of 349 Division I teams, ahead of only Omaha (.489) and Evansville (.468).

Big Sky preseason MVP Esmeralda Morales averages 16.5 points, which leads the Big Sky and ranks 96th nationally. She leads the Big Sky by a wide margin with 75 made threes this season, also leads the Vikings in assists (78) and is a 90.8 percent shooter at the free throw line.

Portland State ranks 330th in 3-point field goal percentage defense (.350) and has been outscored in the second half this season by 254 points.

The first meeting: When the teams met in Missoula on Jan. 25, Montana came away with an 87-46 victory. The Lady Griz led 45-30 at the half, then outscored the Vikings 42-16 in the second half, holding PSU to 6-of-28 (.214) shooting over the final 20 minutes.

Montana shot 50 percent overall and went 14 for 27 (.519) from the 3-point line while turning the ball over just six times.

Carmen Gfeller had 16 points, Dani Bartsch a 13-point, 13-rebound double-double and Macey Huard added 15 points off the bench on 4-of-6 shooting from the arc.

Montana held Esmeralda Morales to seven points on 3-of-14 shooting, her second-lowest scoring output of the season.

Series history: Montana leads the all-time series with Portland State 54-23 and has gone 20-15 against the Vikings in Portland.

The Lady Griz are 1-5 against the Vikings in the teams' last six meetings in Portland, including last year's 74-72 overtime loss, when Montana couldn't hold on to a 12-point second-half lead or a four-point lead with three seconds left in regulation or a two-point lead with 30 seconds left in overtime.

Morales got loose for 27 points.

Game notes:

* Third-year coach Brian Holsinger won his 50th game at Montana on Saturday. With just three more wins, he'll be the second-winningest coach in program history in terms of victories. He has a bit more ground to cover to catch former Lady Griz coach Robin Selvig, who totaled 865 wins.

* Montana goes into the week with a NET national ranking of 89, which ranks second in the Big Sky behind Eastern Washington (77). Northern Arizona (121), Montana State (134), Idaho (169) and Northern Colorado (185) rank in the 100s.

Sacramento State (314) and Portland State (335) are the lowest ranked teams in the Big Sky.

* By going 14 for 27 from the 3-point line against Montana State, Montana moved to the top of the national statistics in that category. The Lady Griz are now averaging 11.1 makes per game.

What makes that even more pleasing is that Montana ranks fourth nationally in 3-point percentage (.393). It's not being done on pure volume, though Montana ranks eighth nationally in attempts (28.3).

With 267 threes made on the season, Montana long ago raced past the single-season program record of 239. The Lady Griz will break into the top 10 in Big Sky history if they reach 311.

Maggie Espenmiller-McGraw, with 58 makes, is now in the top 10 in program history for a single season. The record is 75, set by McCalle Feller in 2015-16. Espenmiller-McGraw ranks eighth nationally, shooting 44.6 percent from the arc this season.

Gina Marxen has 47 makes from the 3-point line, Dani Bartsch 44. Montana has never had two players with 50 or makes in a single season. Mack Konig, with 38, could reach 50 as well.

Montana's top 3-point shooting percentage for a season in program history was .392, set by the 2007-08 team.

* Montana is three wins away from reaching 20 for the first time since 2015-16. The Lady Griz had 20 or more wins 31 times in the 36 seasons between 1980-81 and 2015-16.

* Carmen Gfeller will be playing in her 130th game as Lady Griz on Thursday night at Sacramento State. That will set a new program record, currently held by Gfeller, Kellie Cole and Jordan Sullivan at 129.

Gfeller has 1,512 career points to rank fourth in program history, she recently passed 600 career rebounds (620) and on Saturday hit her 100th career 3-pointer. Her next blocked shot also will be the 100th of her career.

* In the race for career points between two players taking advantage of a fifth year, Gina Marxen has 1,518, six ahead of Gfeller (1,512). … Marxen needs two 3-pointers to reach 300 for her career, three to reach 100 for her time at Montana. (She made 199 in three seasons at Idaho.)

* Marxen has started the last two games for Montana, averaging 15.5 points while playing 34 minutes per game. … Over the last nine games, Marxen has 41 assists, seven turnovers. She has 94 assists on the season, 31 turnovers. Her 3.03 assist-to-turnover ratio ranks third nationally.

* Dani Bartsch had the most Dani Bartsch game on Saturday: 14 points on eight shots, eight rebounds, five assists, three blocks, one steal. … Bartsch ranks 39th nationally at 9.8 rebounds per game.

* Macey Huard's shooting numbers in league: 41.8 percent overall, 47.6 percent from the 3-point line, 83.3 percent from the free throw line.

* Montana, at .440, leads the Big Sky in shooting percentage. The Lady Griz (74.0/g) rank second in the league behind Northern Arizona (77.7/g) in scoring.

* Montana leads the Big Sky in rebounding margin (+5.7/g). The Lady Griz have been outrebounded just five times this season.

* Carmen Gfeller leads the Big Sky with 30 blocked shots. Her average of 1.3/game would be the lowest by a player to lead the league in blocks in Big Sky history, a reflection of the league's current lack of a dominant defensive post player.

* Over the last five games, Mack Konig is averaging 15.8 points. … Montana's starting five the last two games all average 10.4 points or more in league.

Around the Big Sky Conference:

* Eastern Washington and Northern Arizona are tied atop the Big Sky standings at 11-2 with Montana (9-4) and Montana State (8-5) next in line, and Northern Colorado (7-6) also over .500.

* Northern Arizona plays at Eastern Washington on Thursday night. NAU won the first matchup in Flagstaff 89-81 in overtime and is 6-0 in Big Sky road games this season.

* Eastern Washington will make the Montana-Montana State road trip next week.

* Thursday games: UM at SAC, MSU at PSU, NAU at EWU, MSU at PSU

* Saturday games: UM at PSU, MSU at SAC, ISU at WSU, UNC at EWU, NAU at UI

Upcoming: Montana will host Eastern Washington and Idaho next week at Dahlberg Arena.

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Players Mentioned

Dani Bartsch

Maggie Espenmiller-McGraw

Carmen Gfeller

Macey Huard

Mack Konig

Gina Marxen

University of Montana Athletics