Four Lady Griz honored by Big Sky

Four members of Montana's third-place women's basketball team were honored by the Big Sky Conference on Thursday as the league announced its individual award winners and all-league teams.

Maggie Espenmiller-McGraw, a transfer from Iowa State, was voted the Newcomer of the Year, while Gina Marxen was voted Top Reserve.

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

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

Jamie Loera of regular-season champion Eastern Washington was the unanimous pick for Most Valuable Player, while Joddie Gleason, who led the Eagles to a 26-win regular season and 16-2 league record, was named Coach of the Year.

Loera was voted Defensive Player of the Year for the second consecutive season, Sacramento State's Summah Hanson was named the Freshman of the Year.

Loera and Northern Arizona's Sophie Glancey were the only unanimous first-team selections. Joining them on the first team were Gfeller, Eastern Washington's Aaliyah Alexander, Idaho's Kennedy Johnson, Portland State's Esmeralda Morales and Northern Colorado's Delaynie Byrne.

Northern Arizona's Leia Beattie, Sacramento State's Benthe Versteeg, Montana State's Marah Dykstra, Eastern Washington's Jaleesa Lawrence and Northern Colorado's Hannah Simental joined Bartsch and Espenmiller-McGraw on the second team.

Bartsch was one of six players on the new All-Defensive Team.

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

Espenmiller-McGraw is second on the team in scoring (11.8/g). She ranks 17th in the nation in 3-point field goal percentage (.428) and is four makes from tying McCalle Feller's program record from 2015-16 of 75 3-pointers.

Espenmiller-McGraw goes into the postseason with eight straight double-figure scoring games and has 17 games on the season with 10 points or more, the same number she had in four seasons as a Cyclone.

"We knew she was a great 3-point shooter. She's on everybody's scouting report and she's still found ways to be one of the best 3-point shooters in our program's history," said coach Brian Holsinger.

"She's been amazing and a great teammate. Coming in from another school, how a player fits in with the rest of the team is as important as anything, and she's been so awesome from a leadership and teammate perspective."

Marxen came off the bench through the season's first 22 games before moving into the starting lineup for Montana's home win over Northern Colorado.

The Lady Griz closed the season going 6-1 over their final seven games with Marxen in the starting lineup, their only setback a one-point loss to regular-season champion Eastern Washington.

Despite playing a bulk of the season as a reserve, Marxen averaged 10.2 points during the regular season and led the team with 111 assists. She ranks fifth nationally in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.92).

Montana won the award, then known as the Outstanding Sixth Player, four straight seasons between 1994-95 and 1997-98, and Simarron Schildt won in 1999-2000. Marxen is Montana's first winner of the award since Schildt, the program's sixth overall.

"We've viewed her as a starter all year," said Holsinger, who has played Marxen more than 26 minutes per game this season. "We are deep enough to be able to bring her off the bench.

"She's such a good shooter and such a great decision-maker. It's a huge luxury to have somebody who's that good come off your bench because there is no drop-off."

Gfeller earned first-team honors for the second time in her career, All-Big Sky honors for the fourth. She becomes Montana's first two-time first-team selection since Kellie Cole nearly a decade ago.

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

The focal point of every opponent's scouting report, Gfeller still led Montana in scoring at 13.4 points on 48.4 percent shooting and averaged 6.2 rebounds per game. She leads the Big Sky in blocked shots (1.2/g).

Now at 134, Gfeller has played more games than any other player in Lady Griz history. She ranks fourth in program history with 1,569 points and has career averages of 11.7 points and 4.9 rebounds.

"We have more talent up and down the roster since I've been here, so for Carmen to still be the player who coaches continue to game-plan for and continue to try to take away says a lot," said Holsinger. "Just her presence creates opportunities for everybody else on the court.

"In my mind, she's had her best season in terms of understanding the game and understanding what we're trying to accomplish within the team concept."

Bartsch moved into the starting lineup late last season and has made herself an indispensable part of Montana's success as a junior.

She leads the team and Big Sky in rebounding (10.2/g) and ranks 25th nationally for the team with the Big Sky's top rebounding margin.

If she maintains a rebounding average of 10.0 or better, she would be only the fourth player in program history to average 10 or more for a season, the first since Greta Koss in 1996-97 and only the second since 1981.

"Her rebounding numbers are some of the best in the history of our program, which is amazing," said Holsinger. "We pride ourselves on rebounding and she leads the charge in that. That's a huge statistic that equates to winning in my opinion."

She is averaging 8.7 points while shooting 47.4 percent from the field, 42.2 percent from the 3-point line. She leads the team in steals (39) and ranks third on the team in assists (74) while playing a team-high 30.0 minutes.

She earns All-Big Sky honors for the first time in her career, making both the second team and a spot on the inaugural All-Defensive Team.

Once a player with narrower role, she broke out this season, ranking third on the team in 3-pointers made behind Espenmiller-McGraw and Marxen.

She went 5 for 10 from the arc as Montana opened the season against Gonzaga, Washington State and Grand Canyon, and had games of five made threes against South Dakota and Sacramento State.

"She went from, okay, you can sag off her and help in other places to, okay, you can't leave her. You have to know where she is and what she's doing. You have to pay attention to her," said Holsinger. "That's a big jump. She has just really kept improving."

Montana will take the No. 3 seed, its highest since 2014-15, into the Big Sky Conference tournament in Boise. The Lady Griz will face No. 6 Idaho on Monday at 2:30 p.m.

2023-24 Big Sky Women's Basketball Individual Awards
Most Valuable Player: Jamie Loera, Eastern Washington *
Newcomer of the Year: Maggie Espenmiller-McGraw, Montana
Defensive Player of the Year: Jamie Loera, Eastern Washington
Top Reserve: Gina Marxen, Montana
Freshman of the Year: Summah Hanson, Sacramento State
Coach of the Year: Joddie Gleason, Eastern Washington

* Unanimous selection

First Team All-Big Sky Conference
Jamie Loera, Eastern Washington *
Sophie Glancey, Northern Arizona *
Aaliyah Alexander, Eastern Washington
Kennedy Johnson, Idaho
Carmen Gfeller, Montana
Esmeralda Morales, Portland State
Delaynie Byrne, Northern Colorado

* Unanimous selection

Second Team All-Big Sky Conference
Leia Beattie, Northern Arizona
Dani Bartsch, Montana
Benthe Versteeg, Sacramento State
Marah Dykstra, Montana State
Jaleesa Lawrence, Eastern Washington
Maggie Espenmiller-McGraw, Montana
Hannah Simental, Northern Colorado

Honorable Mention All-Big Sky Conference
Aniah Hall, Northern Colorado
Emily Rodabaugh, Northern Arizona
Daryn Hickok, Weber State
Jadyn Matthews, Weber State
Olivia Moran, Northern Arizona

Big Sky Conference All-Defensive Team
Amalie Langer, Idaho
Jamie Loera, Eastern Washington
Kacey Spink, Idaho State
Dani Bartsch, Montana
Benthe Versteeg, Sacramento State
Katelynn Limardo, Montana State

University of Montana Athletics

Players Mentioned

Dani Bartsch

Maggie Espenmiller-McGraw

Carmen Gfeller

Gina Marxen

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