Lady Griz to face Bison in WNIT round of 32

The Montana women's basketball team will continue play in the WNIT on Monday night when it faces North Dakota State in Fargo in the round of 32.

The Lady Griz (23-9) and Bison (21-11) will tip off at 6 p.m. (MT) inside NDSU's Scheels Center.

Montana advanced out of the opening round with a 92-66 home win over Boise State on Wednesday in Missoula.

North Dakota State, which hasn't played since falling to South Dakota State in the Summit League championship game on March 12, received a bye through the first round.

The winner of Monday's game will advance to face either Minnesota or Pacific in the round of 16. The Gophers and Tigers play on Tuesday night in Minneapolis.

Montana is playing in its first postseason national tournament since facing Notre Dame in the 2015 NCAA tournament.

Coverage: The game can be watched on the Summit League Network or heard on KGRZ (92.7 FM/1450 AM), KGRZMissoula.com or the Varsity Network with Ace Sauerwein calling the action from courtside in Fargo.

At a glance (Montana): The Lady Griz won their first national postseason tournament game since 2014 with their victory over Boise State on Wednesday night.

Montana went 15 for 25 from the 3-point line and had five players in double figures while breaking 90 points for the first time this season against a Division I opponent.

The Lady Griz led 46-39 at the half, then outscored the Broncos 46-27 over the final 20 minutes to post their first postseason win since defeating Washington State in the opening round of the WNIT in 2014.

Maggie Espenmiller-McGraw set a new single-season 3-point record while scoring a team-high 20 points. Mack Konig had 16 points, Gina Marxen added 14 points and nine assists.

Playing in its 28th national tournament (1 AIAW, 21 NCAA, 6 WNIT), Montana improved to 9-30 in the postseason. The Lady Griz have never won more than one game in a national tournament.

At a glance (North Dakota State): The Bison are 21-11, their first 20-win season since 2004-05, or the tail end of the Amy Ruley era.

Ruley led the Bison to NCAA Division II national championships in 1991, '93, '94, '95 and '96 and had a record at NDSU of 671-198. She retired after the 2007-08 season.

Fifth-year coach Jory Collins went from 11 wins in his first year to 15 in his second. The Bison went 18-12 a year ago and are sitting on 21 wins this year.

North Dakota State was 4-6 after a mid-December road loss at Iowa State but has mostly been rolling ever since, going 13-3 in the Summit League to finish second behind South Dakota State.

In the Big Sky-Summit Challenge, North Dakota State lost 65-45 at Montana State, NDSU's only head-scratcher of the last three months, then three days later ran past Northern Arizona in Fargo, 99-73.

The Bison went from a 13-for-50 (.260) shooting performance against the Bobcats to going 33 for 59 (.559) against the Lumberjacks, including a 12-of-22 effort from the 3-point line.

In league, North Dakota State lost twice to South Dakota State and on the road at what would be third-place Oral Roberts. The Bison lost to the Jackrabbits 67-54 in the Summit League championship game.

In the title game, NDSU trailed by one, 47-46, with six minutes to go before a 14-0 run allowed South Dakota State to pull away and claim a spot in the NCAA tournament.

North Dakota State ranks 26th nationally in scoring (75.9/g) and is one of the country's top 3-point shooting teams, hitting 37.1 percent from the 3-point line to rank 12th.

Another area of strength is NDSU's ability to get to the free throw line. The Bison have taken 214 more free throws than Montana this season and average more than 20 attempts per game.

On the other side of the ball, Montana ranks 21st nationally in fewest fouls committed, only 13.8 per game.

Sophomore guard Elle Evans was named to the six-player first-team All-Summit League team. She leads the team in scoring (15.3/g) and ranks second nationally in free throw percentage (.933), eighth in 3-point percentage (.446).

She and senior guard teammate Heaven Hamling both have made 70 3-pointers this season. Hamling, second-team All-Summit League, also averages 15.3 points, matching two teams on Monday night with exceptionally strong guard play.

Series history: Montana and North Dakota State have split their four previous meetings.

The Lady Griz defeated the Bison 58-49 in Bozeman in December 1977, NDSU defeated Montana 70-53 at Loyola Marymount's tournament in November 2013.

The teams played more recently in Fargo, in 2021-22, and in Missoula last season. Both teams won on the road by the same 65-63 score.

In last year's matchup in Missoula in the season opener for both teams, Hamling scored 19 points and added six assists.

Montana trailed by 10 in the third quarter, took the lead with 58 seconds left before an and-one three-point play for Elle Evans with 30 seconds left gave the Bison the lead for good.

Montana notes:

* After going 41 for 131 (.313) from the 3-point line over the final three games of the regular season and two games in Boise at the Big Sky tournament, Montana got it rolling from the arc against Boise State, going 15 for 25.

Montana ranks second in the nation in 3-pointers made (10.8/g), fifth in 3-point percentage (.383) and eighth in attempts (28.2/g).

Montana's program record for 3-pointers made in a season before this year was 239. This team has made 346, tied for seventh in Big Sky Conference history and eight from moving into the top five.

Montana has made 13 or more 3-pointers in a game 16 times in program history. Fourteen of those 16 have come under third-year coach Brian Holsinger.

* Maggie Espenmiller-McGraw went 4 for 7 from the 3-point line against Boise State, giving her 79 makes on the season, moving her past McCalle Feller's previous single-season program record of 75.

Espenmiller-McGraw ranks 13th nationally in 3-point percentage (.427).

With 67 makes, Gina Marxen is tied for seventh in program history. Mack Konig (54) and Dani Bartsch (50) give Montana four players with 50 or more made 3-pointers this season.

* Dani Bartsch grabbed eight rebounds against Boise State. It was her first time with fewer than 11 in Montana's last six games and added to her single-season program record. She now has 329.

At an average of 10.3 rebounds per game, she remains on pace to become the first Montana player since Greta Koss in 1996-97 to average at least 10 rebounds per game and only the fourth in program history.

Bartsch ranks 26th nationally in rebounds per game.

* Gina Marxen had nine assists and two turnovers against Boise State. Her 124 assists are the most for Montana since McKenzie Johnston totaled 150 in 2019-20.

With 124 assists against 41 turnovers on the season, Marxen ranks third nationally in assist-to-turnover ratio (3.02).

* Carmen Gfeller ranks fourth in program history in scoring with 1,615 points. Close behind in collegiate points scored is Gina Marxen at 1,610. She scored 954 points in three years at Idaho and has scored 656 in two seasons at Montana.

* In the NET national rankings, Montana is 97, North Dakota State is 110.

* North Dakota State is 12-1 at home this season, its only setback a 65-58 loss to South Dakota State. Montana is 10-3 in true road games, 12-4 away from Missoula. It's the first time the Lady Griz have won 10 or more true road games since 2008-09.

* Montana won 20 games this season for the first time since 2015-16. One more win would give the Lady Griz 24, matching their most since going 28-5 in 2008-09.

* Montana shot 52.5 percent overall against Boise State, its second-best shooting performance of the season (.531 at Idaho). The Lady Griz are now 21-1 this season when shooting 40 percent or better, 17-1 when scoring 70 or more points.

* Maggie Espenmiller-McGraw's 20 points against Boise State was her first 20-point scoring game since December, her fourth of the season.

* Espenmiller-McGraw and Gina Marxen have both hit at least one 3-pointer in 18 consecutive games. They combined to go 8 for 13 from the arc against Boise State.

* Over the last six games, Dani Bartsch has totaled 71 rebounds and 11 points. … Haley Huard's three assists against Boise State matched her career high. … Mack Konig is averaging 19 points the last four games.

* Montana and Northern Arizona are the last two Big Sky Conference teams still playing.

Northern Colorado lost 80-62 on Thursday at Texas-San Antonio in the first round of the WNIT. The Bears led 23-19 after the first quarter before getting outscored 61-39 over the final 30 minutes.

Eastern Washington lost 73-51 at Oregon State on Friday in the first round of the NCAA tournament. Jamie Loera had 21 points, four assists, four steals and three rebounds for the Eagles, who led 18-15 after one quarter before getting outscored 58-33 the rest of the way.

Northern Arizona received a first-round bye in the WNIT and will play a second-round game on the road at South Dakota on Tuesday. The Coyotes were 72-57 winners over UC Riverside in Vermillion on Friday.

* Montana was well represented when the Big Sky announced its annual award winners and all-league teams earlier this month.

Maggie Espenmiller-McGraw, a transfer from Iowa State, was voted the Newcomer of the Year, while Gina Marxen, who came off the bench the first 22 games of the season before moving into the starting lineup last month, was named Top Reserve.

Carmen Gfeller was named first-team All-Big Sky for the second time in her career, All-Big Sky for the fourth.

Espenmiller-McGraw and Dani Bartsch were named to the second team, with Bartsch being named to the six-player All-Defensive Team.

Espenmiller-McGraw became Montana's second-ever Newcomer of the Year, joining Vicki Austin, who received the award in 1988-89 after transferring from Long Beach State.

Montana won the Outstanding Sixth Player award, as it was then called before being renamed Top Reserve, four straight seasons between 1994-95 and 1997-98, and again in 1999-2000. Marxen became Montana's first winner of the award since 2000, the program's sixth winner overall.

Gfeller was voted third-team All-Big Sky in 2020-21, first-team in 2021-22 and second-team last season.

Mack Konig was voted to the Big Sky Conference All-Tournament team, a first for Montana since 2015. Konig averaged 17 points on 50 percent shooting in two games in Boise, going 5 for 11 from the 3-point line.

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Players Mentioned

Dani Bartsch

Maggie Espenmiller-McGraw

Carmen Gfeller

Haley Huard

Mack Konig

Gina Marxen

University of Montana Athletics