Lady Griz overcome it all, pull out road win

Thursday, February 22

Sacramento, Calif.

7:30 PM (MT)

Montana

18-7, 10-4BSC

Sacramento State

5-21, 4-11BSC

Montana

Sacramento St.

Photos: Sacramento State Athletics

2/22/2024 11:10:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

By: Montana Sports Information

The hangover from a big Bobcat victory. An opponent playing its best basketball of the season. Greek Night at The Nest. A basket that looked as small as a saucer for most of the game.

Montana had no chance on Thursday night on the road against Sacramento State. Until the Lady Griz decided they did, then came through with the most improbable of comeback victories.

Down eight at the half, 10 in the third quarter, eight with 3:22 left and five with 28 seconds left, none of it was a hill too big to climb.

Gina Marxen hit two free throws with 27 seconds left, Carmen Gfeller connected on a 3-pointer with 14 seconds to go, and MJ Bruno hit a free throw with 0.7 seconds on the clock as Montana closed the game on a 6-0 run to win 58-57 in front of a stunned crowd of 845.

The Lady Griz (18-7, 10-4 BSC) won despite shooting 32.7 percent, going 11 for 37 (.297) from the 3-point line and getting outrebounded for only the sixth time all season.

Montana had no business winning. And that makes it all that much sweeter that it did.

"We found a way to win and that's what's important at this time of year," said a spent Brian Holsinger after the game, who was both proud of the effort but frustrated at the overall execution.

"We didn't play our best but we stuck with it. I was proud of how we mentally stuck with it. We could have gotten down, but our kids fought like crazy on defense, even when it wasn't going great for us."

It didn't take long for Holsinger, whose team had the feel-good of all feel-good victories on Saturday, a 72-50 thumping of Montana State, to see that his team didn't have the same stuff five days later.

The Lady Griz turned the ball over three times on their first three possessions, forcing their coach to use a timeout less than two minutes into the game.

"I was really upset with how we came out. We had an emotional win and it's the biggest fear, having a letdown when you go on the road. We definitely had a letdown. I tried to wake them up," he said.

There were stretches when Montana scored well, but nothing on Thursday night came easily.

The Lady Griz had more turnovers (9) in the first half than made baskets (6). That led to a 26-18 halftime deficit – Montana's lowest first-half output of the season – despite holding the Hornets (5-21, 4-11 BSC) to 32.1 percent shooting over the opening 20 minutes.

Montana defeated Sacramento State 84-57 in Missoula last month. Since then, the Hornets had won four of six, including a double-digit road win at then Big Sky leader Northern Arizona.

"Credit to them. (Coach Aaron Kallhoff) has them playing really hard," said Holsinger. "They out-toughed us and out-hustled us. On the road you can't let that happen. We got knocked back on our heels in the first half."

Down 36-26 in the third quarter, Montana went on a quick 9-0 run, with Maggie Espenmiller-McGraw and Dani Bartsch hitting 3-pointers and Espenmiller-McGraw finishing an and-one at the basket.

But the Hornets took a 41-36 lead into the final period, then hit their first four shots of the fourth quarter to build their lead to 47-39.

Whatever pulse Montana had was fading quickly, especially after going nearly five minutes in the final period with only one basket made and falling behind 51-43.

But the basket that put the Hornets up eight with 3:39 to play would be their final one of the game.

Two Marxen free throws and a Marxen 3-pointer made it a one-possession game, 51-48, with 2:49 to go and Montana upped the defensive pressure, which rattled the Hornets, who missed all three of their shots, missed two free throws and had a pair of turnovers in the final three minutes.

"Our trap at the end really bothered them. We pressed about the right time and did a good job of speeding them up a bit," said Holsinger.

"They are tough and physical. We didn't really match that until the last four minutes when there was some desperation."

After Sacramento State point guard Benthe Versteeg hit one of two free throws with 30 seconds left to make it 57-52, she picked up an ill-advised foul just a few seconds later, sending Marxen to the line with hardly any time coming off the clock and herself to the bench with five fouls.

Marxen hit both to make it 57-54, then the Hornets, with their primary ball-handler on the bench, bobbled an inbounds pass out of bounds, setting up Gfeller at the top of the key with 14 seconds left, her team trailing by three, the ball in her hands.

Nailed it. Tie game. The first time Sacramento State had not held the lead since late in the first quarter.

Sacramento State's attempt at the game-winner wasn't close, and Montana was able to advance the ball to the frontcourt after the rebound with 1.2 seconds left.

The play design in the timeout: Get MJ Bruno, who had no points in the game, cutting to the basket from the free throw line. Dani Bartsch led her to the rim with a pass and Bruno was landed on from behind with 0.7 seconds left.

Video review confirmed it. Two free throws, time still on the clock. Bruno missed the first of two, then calmly drained the second for her first point of the game and Montana's first lead since 8-7.

In between was a mostly forgettable sequence of bad basketball. But at the end, a win, there for the taking, shining like a pot of gold.

"I thought we played pretty poorly. We didn't come out with the right level of intensity," said Holsinger. "How about us sticking with it? We got back to being us a little bit better. It wasn't the prettiest but we found a way to win on the road."

Espenmiller-McGraw and Marxen both finished with 15 points, with Gfeller adding 10. Bartsch had nine points, four assists and matched a career high with 17 rebounds.

Summah Hanson led Sacramento State with 21 points and 11 rebounds, her Big Sky-leading 12th double-double of the season. Versteeg added 18 points on 19 shots.

Montana will take a three-game winning streak to Portland State for a game on Saturday afternoon against the Vikings (7-20, 2-13 BSC), who won their second league game of the season on Thursday, 60-55 over Montana State, outscoring MSU 35-21 in the second half.

In a Big Sky game of much significance, Eastern Washington (22-5, 12-2 BSC) looked like the league's best team in smothering Northern Arizona (19-8, 11-3 BSC) 67-42 in Cheney, holding the Lumberjacks to 20.9 percent shooting.