And just like that, the Lady Griz close out their home schedule

A season that no one wants to end is reaching the usual mileposts that remind us the fun times won't last forever, at least not with this team and this particular group of players.

Montana will play its final regular-season home games this week when it hosts first-place Eastern Washington and Idaho, the latter also serving as Senior Day.

The Lady Griz (19-7, 11-4 BSC) will host the red-hot Eagles (23-5, 13-2 BSC) on Thursday at 7 p.m. inside Dahlberg Arena, the Vandals (13-14, 6-9 BSC) at 2 p.m. on Saturday.

Montana will close out its regular-season schedule with a game at Idaho State (11-15, 7-8 BSC) on Monday at 7 p.m.

The Big Sky Conference tournament will open in Boise on Saturday, March 9. Montana will play its first tournament game on Sunday, March 10, or Monday, March 11.

Special happenings (Thursday): Thursday will have a number of pink-themed elements to bring additional awareness to breast cancer.

Special happenings (Saturday): Montana, at 11.2 makes per game, leads the nation in 3-pointers. To celebrate that accomplishment, tickets for select seating sections are available for $3.

Tickets can be purchased online before the game or at the ticket office on Saturday.

Saturday also will be Senior Day for Maggie Espenmiller-McGraw, Gina Marxen and Carmen Gfeller, who have helped put Montana on the cusp of its first 20-win season since 2015-16.

At a glance (Montana): The Lady Griz swept the Sacramento State-Portland State road trip last week to improve to 19-7, leaving them one win shy of No. 20.

Last week's sweep didn't come easily. Montana pulled out a last-second (literally) 58-57 win at Sacramento State on Thursday before having an easier time in Saturday's 76-65 win at Portland State.

Against the Hornets, Montana trailed 26-18 at the half, by 10 in the third quarter, by eight with 3:22 to play in the fourth and by five with 28 seconds left.

But two Gina Marxen free throws, a Hornet turnover and a Carmen Gfeller 3-pointer tied the game with 12.8 seconds left.

After a Sacramento State miss, Montana advanced the ball to the frontcourt and drew a foul on the inbounds pass to the basket. MJ Bruno hit one of two free throws with 0.7 seconds left for the win.

The 18 points were the fewest in the first half for Montana since falling behind at Eastern Washington 32-18 in 2021-22 and the fewest in any half since the Lady Griz put up 17 points in a 65-44 loss to California at Loyola Marymount's Thanksgiving tournament last season.

Both of those games ended up in a loss, Thursday's in a win despite shooting 32.7 percent. It was a true outlier. In Montana's other 18 wins this season, the Lady Griz have shot at least 41 percent.

Montana had been 0-6 this season when shooting less than 38 percent prior to rallying for a victory over Sacramento State.

Two days later, against the Vikings, Montana went 13 for 17 in the first quarter and put up 33 points to build a 17-point opening-period lead.

Portland State outscored Montana over the final 30 minutes, but were never closer than eight points over the last 32 minutes.

The win at Portland State upped Montana's winning streak to four games.

At a glance (Eastern Washington): The Eagles were picked first in the Big Sky preseason coaches' poll and had a statement victory on Thursday to take sole possession of first place.

Hosting Northern Arizona, the team picked first in the preseason media poll and tied with the Eagles atop the league standings, Eastern Washington throttled the Big Sky's highest-scoring team, holding the Lumberjacks to 20.9 percent shooting and 10 or fewer points in three of four quarters in a one-sided 67-42 victory.

NAU entered the game averaging 77.7 points.

The Eagles held Sophie Glancey, who scored 30 points against both Montana and Montana State a few weeks ago, without a made basket and super-sub Olivia Moran to 1-of-13 shooting.

On Saturday, the Eagles got up 37-23 at the half on Northern Colorado and went on to a 68-63 win.

The win over the Bears extended Eastern Washington's winning streak to seven games. They are 17-2 over their last 19, dating back to mid-December, the only losses in overtime at Northern Arizona and by one at home to Montana State.

Eastern Washington's only other losses this season came by eight on the road at UC Irvine, which has 17 wins and is in second place in the Big West, by two at home to now 28-2 Gonzaga and by eight on the road at Cal, which has 16 wins and is an at-large NCAA tournament bubble team.

The Eagles average 70 points per game on 41.6 percent shooting and pair that by being one of the Big Sky's most lockdown defensive teams, allowing 56.0 points on 36.1 percent shooting.

Eastern Washington hasn't allowed more than 63 points in more than a month and has allowed more than 65 points just twice since mid-December.

Aaliyah Alexander leads the Eagles in scoring (15.5/g) but it's soon-to-be Big Sky MVP Jamie Loera who makes Eastern Washington one step better than everyone else in the league.

The do-it-all point guard averages 13.0 points and leads the team in rebounding (5.9/g), assists (146) and steals (62). She is a 41.1 percent shooter from the 3-point line and an 85.5 percent shooter from the free throw line.

In a telling statistic, the Eagles have 82 more assists this season than turnovers. Their opponents have 192 more turnovers than assists.

Eastern Washington has the Big Sky's top NET national ranking of 75. Montana is next at 97.

After playing at Montana State on Saturday afternoon, the Eagles will return home and host Sacramento State on Monday night.

The first meeting: The Eagles got up on the Lady Griz 32-22 at the half in Cheney in early February and held the lead the rest of the way, winning 61-56.

It was a 52-51 game from the 4:47 mark of the fourth quarter to 2:23, with Montana going 0 for 4 with a turnover during that critical stretch before the Eagles did enough to pull away.

Montana could have tied it in the final minute with a made free throw and had a good look at a 3-pointer with 13 seconds left after holding the Eagles to 2-of-13 shooting in the final period.

Mack Konig led Montana with 16 points on 15 shots. Carmen Gfeller had 14 points, 12 rebounds, Dani Bartsch 11 rebounds. The Eagles limited the Lady Griz to 9-of-34 (.265) shooting from the 3-point line.

Loera led Eastern Washington with 19 points, 11 rebounds, three assists, two blocks and two steals.

Series history: Montana leads the all-time series with Eastern Washington 77-28 and has gone 45-9 against the Eagles in Missoula. Six of the Eagles' nine wins at Dahlberg Arena have come since 2011.

Eastern Washington has won the teams' last three meetings.

Montana won at Eastern Washington last season, 81-70, before the Eagles won the return game in Missoula 87-60, building a 48-25 halftime lead and winning behind Jaydia Martin's 33 points.

The teams' third matchup last season came in the 4-5 game in Boise. Montana built a nine-point lead midway through the second quarter before Eastern Washington ended the half on a 21-4 run to take a 43-35 lead at the half.

The Eagles led the entire second half on their way to a 72-64 behind a big game from Loera: 23 points, nine rebounds, seven assists, five steals in 37 minutes.

At a glance (Idaho): The Vandals are 13-14 overall but just 4-9 over their last 13 games, which has them sitting at No. 7 in the Big Sky standings and playing on Saturday in Boise if the Big Sky tournament were to open with the standings as they are.

They are one game out of sixth, which allows a team to open in Boise on Monday and avoid the Saturday play-in round and a game against the 1 or 2 seed on Sunday.

Idaho's path to 13-14 has come in an unexpected way. The Vandals are 3-11 at home this season, 1-11 against Division I opponents, 10-3 away from Moscow.

Idaho was 9-5 back on Jan. 3 after winning 80-52 at Chicago State, but that was also the last game played in by Hope Butera, a 6-foot-3 forward who was averaging 9.0 points and 8.2 rebounds in her first season after transferring from Florida International.

In Butera's absence, junior guard Kennedy Johnson leads Idaho in both scoring (13.2/g) and rebounding (6.7/g).

The Vandals have not exceeded 70 points in a game since the loss of Butera and average 60.2 on the season while allowing 57.0.

Idaho is 1-7 in league at home, the lone win coming against Sacramento State, 5-2 on the road, with losses only at Big Sky leaders Northern Arizona and Eastern Washington.

The first meeting: When the teams met in Moscow on Feb. 1, Montana shot 55.6 percent in the first half, going 9 for 14 (.643) from the 3-point line, to race out to a 45-21 halftime lead.

The lead was still 18, 61-43, entering the fourth quarter before Idaho fought back to twice cut the margin to six. Both times Montana answered at the other end to keep it from getting too tense.

Idaho went 18 for 32 (.563) in the second half, Montana finished the game 14 for 22 (.636) from the 3-point line.

Carmen Gfeller had 24 points, Mack Konig added 18 on 5-of-6 shooting from the 3-point line. Kennedy Johnson had 26 for Idaho, 10 in the fourth quarter, 19 in the second half.

Series history: Montana leads the all-time series with Idaho 45-17 and has gone 29-3 against the Vandals in Missoula.

Idaho has enjoyed its best run of success against Montana over the last seven years, going 9-5 against the Lady Griz in the teams' last 14 meetings, mostly under former coach Jon Newlee.

Montana's win in Moscow earlier this month snapped a seven-game losing streak for the Lady Griz on Idaho's home floor.

Montana has won four straight at home over Idaho by a combined 18 points.

At a glance (Idaho State): At one point, the Bengals were 6-3 in league and the surprise of the Big Sky. Then came an excruciating five-game losing streak that sent ISU tumbling down the standings to its now sixth-place spot.

After a 14-point home loss to Northern Arizona, Idaho State lost by three at Sacramento State, by six at Portland State, by three at home to Eastern Washington and by one at home to Idaho when Idaho State couldn't hold a five-point lead with two minutes remaining.

The Bengals broke free on Saturday with a 72-57 road win at Weber State.

The reason Idaho State is in so many close games? They are, per usual, quite salty defensively, holding opponents to 59.9 points on 37.2 percent shooting. Offensively, the Bengals score 59.2 points on 38.2 percent shooting.

The margin between winning and losing in that case is thin. Eleven of Idaho State's 25 games this season have been decided by six points or less.

Tasia Jordan leads Idaho State in scoring (11.1/g), though she hasn't played since Jan. 22. … Idaho State is 8-4 at home this season, 3-11 away from Pocatello.

The first meeting: When the teams met in Missoula in late December, Montana built a 12-point first-quarter lead, led 40-29 at the half and 59-41 after three quarters.

Idaho State outscored Montana 14-7 in a sloppy fourth quarter when the Lady Griz went 2 for 8 with eight turnovers.

The final score was 66-55 and ended the Bengals' five-game winning streak over the Lady Griz in Missoula. Carmen Gfeller scored 12 points. Gina Marxen added 12 off the bench.

Laura Bello went 7 for 7 and scored 14 points for Idaho State. Maria Dias scored 15 off the bench.

Series history: Montana leads the all-time series with Idaho State 74-19 and has gone 30-11 against the Bengals in Pocatello.

December's win was only Montana's fourth over Idaho State in the teams' last 15 meetings, those ISU wins coming under coach Seton Sobolewski, who has 13 of Idaho State's 19 all-time wins over Montana.

The Lady Griz won 77-68 at Idaho State last season, their first win at ISU since 2015.

Montana notes:

* The Lady Griz made 11 3-pointers at Sacramento State on Thursday, though those makes came about more through volume (37 of Montana's 55 shots in the game came from the arc) than percentage (.297).

The Lady Griz had a more Montana-like performance on Saturday at Portland State, going 12 for 31 (.387).

Montana continues to lead the nation in made 3-pointers (11.2/g) and also sits fifth nationally in percentage (.388).

The Lady Griz entered the season with the program record for number of made threes at 239. They go into the final three games of the regular season with 290 makes. If (when?) they get to 311, it will be a top-10 performance in Big Sky history.

Montana has made 10 or more 3-pointers in 11 of its last 12 games.

* Maggie Espenmiller-McGraw has 63 3-pointers made this season. That ranks eighth in program history and has the fifth-year senior within range of McCalle Feller's program record of 75, set in 2015-16.

Gina Marxen (54) surpassed 50 on the road last week and Dani Bartsch is sitting at 49. Montana has never had more than one player make 50 3-pointers in a season. With Mack Konig at 41, the Lady Griz could have four by the time the season is over.

Espenmiller-McGraw ranks 20th in the nation and first in the Big Sky in 3-point percentage (.423), Marxen ranks 44th (.394). Espenmiller-McGraw ranks 47th nationally at 2.42 makes per game.

* Dani Bartsch matched her career high with 17 rebounds at Sacramento State on Thursday. She also grabbed 17 rebounds in Montana's road win at Northern Arizona last season.

She is one of only six players in program history to grab 17 or more rebounds at least twice in their career. Jill Greenfield did it three times, Katie Baker, Bartsch, Jace Henderson, Sharla Muralt and Hollie Tyler two times each.

Bartsch became the seventh-fastest player in program history to reach 500 career rebounds last month. She has since blown past 600 and is only a junior.

At 610 rebounds, she currently ranks 23rd in program history. Fourteen players have hit 700, seven have reached 800, only one (Hollie Tyler, 952) has reached 900.

At an average of 9.9 this season, Bartsch leads the Big Sky and ranks 33rd nationally.

* Montana is 9-3 in true road games this season. If the Lady Griz were to win in Pocatello on Monday, they would have 10 road wins in a season for the first time since the 2008-09 season.

One more win in any location will give Montana 20 for the season for the first time since 2015-16, the last year of the program under former coach Robin Selvig, who guided his teams to 31 20-win seasons in 38 years.

* In league games, Montana has five players averaging in double figures: Gfeller (14.0), Espenmiller-McGraw (11.7), Konig (11.5), Bartsch (11.1) and Marxen (10.9).

* Montana's four-game winning streak syncs up with Marxen's elevation to the starting lineup for the Northern Colorado game on Feb. 10.

* Marxen had another exceptional ball-handling game on Saturday at Portland State, with eight assists and one turnover. She now ranks second in the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio at 3.09, behind only UNLV's Kiara Jackson (3.18).

* Montana ranks fifth nationally in 3-point shooting percentage at .388. Eastern Washington leads the Big Sky in defending the 3-point line at .290. The Eagles won that matchup in the first meeting, holding Montana to 9-of-34 shooting (.265) from the arc.

* Montana has been outrebounded only six times this season and leads the Big Sky in rebounding margin (+5.3/g). … Carmen Gfeller leads the Big Sky with 32 blocked shots (1.2/g). Her career is full of big numbers: 1,539 points, 634 rebounds, 102 made 3-pointers, 301 made free throws, 101 blocks.

* Gina Marxen has 1,546 career points between three seasons at Idaho and two at Montana. Carmen Gfeller has 1,539 points, all at Montana.

* Carmen Gfeller played in her 130th career game on Thursday at Sacramento State, breaking the program record for games play.

* Maggie Espenmiller-McGraw has made a 3-pointer in 12 straight games, same as Gina Marxen. Mack Konig has made a three in 10 straight games. Macey Huard has made a 3-pointer in 14 of the last 15 games.

* Thursday's 58-57 win at Sacramento State improved Montana to 5-1 this season in games decided by five or fewer points. The only loss came at Eastern Washington, 61-56.

Around the Big Sky Conference:

* With only three games remaining for most league teams, the top of the Big Sky will come down to Eastern Washington (13-2 BSC), Northern Arizona (12-3) and Montana (11-4).

* The Eagles will have a chance to earn it on the road, playing at Montana on Thursday, then at Montana State, which handed EWU one of its two league losses, on Saturday. Eastern Washington closes with a home game against Sacramento State on Monday.

* Northern Arizona hosts Idaho State and Weber State this week, then plays at Northern Colorado on Monday.

* Thursday games: EWU at UM, UI at MSU, WSU at UNC, ISU at NAU

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

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

Upcoming: The Big Sky Conference tournament in Boise.

And just like that, the Lady Griz close out their home schedule

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Dani Bartsch

MJ Bruno

Maggie Espenmiller-McGraw

Carmen Gfeller

Macey Huard

Mack Konig

Gina Marxen

University of Montana Athletics