Lady Griz back home looking to snap streak

The Montana women's basketball team will try to put an end to a three-game losing streak this week when it hosts Weber State and Idaho State at Dahlberg Arena in Missoula.

The Lady Griz will have a quick turnaround after that brief home stand, facing their third game in five days when they play at Idaho on Monday afternoon.

Montana (5-10, 1-3 BSC) will play the Wildcats (5-8, 2-1 BSC) at 7 p.m. on Thursday on Robin Selvig Court, the Bengals (6-8, 1-2 BSC) at 2 p.m. on Saturday in the program's annual N7 game.

The Lady Griz will face the Vandals (11-4, 3-1 BSC) on Monday at 3 p.m. (MT) in Moscow, the teams' second meeting in 16 days, the first match-up won by Idaho in Missoula on Jan. 4, 63-50.

It was that game that started Montana's current three-game losing streak, with losses last week on the road at Northern Arizona, 65-46, and at Northern Colorado, 57-49.

The Lady Griz are averaging 48.3 points on 34.0 percent shooting on their losing streak.

Happenings: Saturday will be Montana's third annual N7 game, the Nike initiative that attempts to inspire Native American youth to participate in sports and physical activity.

Montana will wear customized turquoise uniforms, the color that symbolizes friendship and fellowship in Native American cultures.

Former Griz and NFL player Levi Horn will give a lecture in the West Auxiliary Gym starting at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday. A game ticket is required for admission.

The 2010 UM graduate who was an all-American at offensive tackle for the Grizzlies, will tell his story of overcoming trauma and how his time at UM empowered him to fight for Native youth.

At a glance (Montana): The Lady Griz will enter Thursday night's game on a three-game losing streak, the length of which has been rare under fourth-year coach Brian Holsinger.

Montana has played 108 games under Holsinger and this is only the fourth losing streak of three or more games, the longest being four.

The driver of the current losing streak has been an offense that has gone cold since winning at home over Eastern Washington on Jan. 2, 78-70.

Against Idaho, Northern Arizona and Northern Colorado, Montana averaged 48.3 points on 34.0 percent shooting, with a high scoring game of 50, a low of 46.

Last week marked the first time since the 2016-17 season that Montana scored fewer than 50 points in back-to-back games.

Montana lost 65-46 at Northern Arizona on Thursday against the preseason Big Sky Conference favorite but a team that had been allowing more than 76 points per game on 42.9 percent shooting.

The Lady Griz shot just 28.8 percent and had 23 turnovers against the Lumberjacks without a player in double figures.

Montana trailed 15-6 after the first quarter, 32-21 at the half and 47-34 through three quarters.

The Lady Griz put in a solid defensive effort, holding Northern Arizona to its second-lowest scoring total of the season and more than 16 points below its season average of 81.5.

MJ Bruno hit three 3-pointers to account for all of her team-high nine points.

On Saturday at Northern Colorado, Montana got out to a 13-8 lead late in the first quarter but then scored only two points over a span of more than nine minutes.

The Bears led 29-18 at the half and held an advantage of four or more points the rest of the game.

Montana pulled within four, 48-44, with four minutes left, then missed a 3-pointer that could have made it a one-point game and later two free throws that could have cut the deficit to two.

Northern Colorado went on a quick 5-0 run after those missed chances to put the game out of reach.

Aby Shubert led Montana with 12 points on 4-of-7 shooting from the 3-point line. Remarkably, she is the ninth different player to lead the Lady Griz in scoring this season.

Mack Konig added 11 points and seven assists. Konig ranks 25th nationally and is second in the Big Sky in assists at 5.5 per game.

Bruno scored all 15 of her points on the road trip from the 3-point line, going 5 for 11 from the arc. She is two points from 400 for her collegiate career, with two seasons at Portland, two at Montana.

Dani Bartsch had 13 rebounds on the road trip, giving her 771 for her career. She is 15 from breaking into the top 10 in program history.

Bartsch also has made 98 3-pointers. With two more she'll become the 16th player in program history to reach 100 makes. Konig became No. 15 to reach 100 earlier this season.

Montana ranks in the top 50 nationally in two categories: bench points (33rd, 26.7/g) and 3-point field goals made (46th, 8.0/g). The Lady Griz lead the Big Sky in 3-point percentage (.338).

At a glance (Weber State): The Wildcats were picked last in the Big Sky preseason poll but took advantage of playing their first three league games at home to open 2-1.

Weber State started league with a 65-52 win over Northern Colorado, got outscored 92-78 by Northern Arizona, then held off Idaho State 72-67 in overtime on Saturday.

The Wildcats are above .500 through three league games for the first time since 2021-22, only the second time since 2017-18.

Weber State tied for eighth in the Big Sky last season, going 4-14 in league, 8-25 overall, with a first-round win over No. 10 Portland State at the Big Sky tournament in Boise.

Weber State lost four starters from that team, returning only Kendra Parra.

Taylor Smith, who averaged 6.4 points and 3.6 rebounds last season as a freshman, leads the team in scoring (13.2/g) and is averaging 6.0 rebounds.

The forward from the home of Idaho State – Pocatello – put up 19 points and 10 rebounds against her hometown Bengals on Saturday.

Junior Antoniette Emma-Nnopu, a first-year transfer from UNC Greensboro, is averaging 10.0 points on 53.7 percent shooting and a team-high 8.7 rebounds, which ranks third in the Big Sky.

Parra is averaging 9.5 points and leads the team in assists (31). Senior Rose Bubakar, who spent three seasons at BYU, averages 9.1 points.

Weber State is 5-8 but has four losses by four or fewer points, against San Diego, Utah Tech, North Dakota and Utah Valley.

The Wildcats are out-shooting their opponents this season by a comfortable margin, .417 to .397, but they also have totaled 265 turnovers, more than 20 per game.

Weber State is led by second-year coach Jenteal Jackson.

Series history: Montana leads the all-time series with Weber State 78-15 and has gone 43-4 against the Wildcats in Missoula.

The Lady Griz have won five straight over Weber State, 11 of the teams' last 12 match-ups.

Montana has won 16 straight at home over Weber State. The Wildcats' last win over the Lady Griz in Missoula came in February 2006.

Montana swept the season series last year, winning 87-71 in Missoula and 87-55 in Ogden. The Lady Griz made 29 3-pointers in the two wins, going 29 for 68 (.426) from the arc.

At a glance (Idaho State): The Bengals will enter their game at Montana State on Thursday night with a record of 6-8, 1-2 in league.

Like Weber State, Idaho State opened Big Sky play with a home split against Northern Arizona and Northern Colorado. The Bengals lost in overtime at Weber State on Saturday.

In their 79-71 home loss to the Big Sky favorite Lumberjacks, the Bengals fell behind 21-10 after the first quarter and never caught up though they did have the ball down four with four minutes left.

Idaho State held Northern Colorado to 29.0 percent shooting in the Bengals' 58-50 home win over the Bears.

In Saturday's tight game at Weber State, neither team held more than a 3-point lead the final 15 minutes of regulation, the teams going 0 for 4 over the final 1:39 to send it to overtime.

Parra won it for the Wildcats when she converted a three-point play with 12 seconds left in overtime to break a 67-67 deadlock.

Senior guard Maria Dias leads Idaho State in scoring (10.4/g). Junior forward Halle Wright averages 10.3 points but hasn't play since the opening minutes against Northern Arizona.

Piper Carlson averages 7.6 points and 6.9 rebounds, Kacey Spink leads ISU in rebounding (7.3/g), assists (38) and steals (36).

Idaho State has two non-Division I wins to its credit, plus wins over Rhode Island, Denver, Kansas City and Northern Colorado. The Bengals have two overtimes losses, to Northern Illinois and Weber State.

Seventeenth-year coach Seton Sobolewski has a record at ISU of 277-226.

Series history: Montana leads the all-time series against Idaho State 75-19 and has gone 42-7 against the Bengals in Missoula.

Idaho State had its best-ever run against the Lady Griz from 2016 to '22, winning 10 of 12 games, and won five straight in Missoula between 2020 and 2023.

Montana swept the season series last year and won three of four games against Idaho State the last two seasons.

Last year at Missoula, the Lady Griz built a 19-point second-half lead before holding on for a 66-55 win, with Dias leading both teams with 15 points off the bench for the Bengals.

In the regular-season finale in Pocatello, Mack Konig scored a career-high 26 points as Montana won 67-65, overcoming a 19-point game from Sophia Covello.

At a glance (Idaho): On Monday, the Lady Griz will face the familiar Vandals in Moscow.

Montana will be coming off home games on Thursday and Saturday before traveling on Sunday. Idaho will have just one game before Monday, a home game against Eastern Washington on Saturday.

When the teams met in Missoula earlier this month, Idaho was up 21-19 at the half, then shot 17 for 27 (.630) in the second half to pull away for a 63-50 win.

It was only the Vandals' fourth win over the Lady Griz in Missoula in 34 tries. Montana's 50 points matched its fewest scored against Idaho since 1976.

Hope Hassmann led Idaho with 20 points, four rebounds, three assists and two steals. Avery Waddington scored 15 points off the bench to lead Montana, which got 29 points from its five starters.

Idaho, playing under its third head coach in three seasons and with five first-year starters, all transfers, is authoring one of the best stories in the Big Sky this season.

Under first-year coach Arthur Moreira, Idaho, picked seventh in the preseason, is 11-4 and a 59-56 loss at Montana State away from being 4-0 in league and atop the Big Sky.

While Idaho's win in Missoula started a three-game losing streak for the Lady Griz, it sparked a three-game winning streak for the Vandals.

Idaho won twice at home last week, rallying to defeat both Sacramento State, 63-48, and Portland State, 60-56.

Against the Hornets, Idaho trailed 20-13 after the first quarter before outscoring Sacramento State 24-2 in the second period to take control.

Against the Vikings, the Vandals overcame a six-point fourth-quarter deficit.

Idaho's five starters all average between 7.1 and 12.5 points, with Hassmann, a transfer from Cal State Fullerton, scoring 12.5 points per game.

The Vandals, who have allowed more than 60 points only once since Nov. 10, are holding their opponents to 55.5 points on 34.4 percent shooting.

They rank 10th nationally in field goal percentage defense, 24th in scoring defense, and are one of the nation's top rebounding teams, ranking sixth nationally in defensive rebounds (31.1/g).

Jennifer Aadland leads the Big Sky and ranks 11th nationally in rebounding (10.7/g).

Series history: Montana leads the series with Idaho 48-18. The Lady Griz have gone 17-13 against the Vandals in Moscow.

Montana's 79-68 win in Moscow last season snapped the Lady Griz' seven-game losing streak on the home court of the Vandals.

Around the Big Sky Conference:

* Montana State, which plays at Montana a week from Saturday, is atop the Big Sky at 4-0 after its 87-81 road win at preseason favorite Northern Arizona on Saturday.

* The Bobcats, who had to rally from a halftime deficit at Northern Colorado on Thursday, trailed at NAU 22-11 after the first quarter, then outscored the home team 54-34 over the second and third quarters.

* Northern Arizona's loss dropped the Lumberjacks into a tie for second with Idaho at 3-1. Weber State, at 2-1, is the only other league team above .500.

* After losing competitive games at Montana and Montana State, Eastern Washington bounced back with home victories over Portland State and Sacramento State to move to 2-2.

* Portland State, at 0-3, is the Big Sky's only winless team. The Vikings held 11- and six-point fourth-quarter leads in two of its losses.

* Northern Arizona has the Big Sky's top two scorers in Sophie Glancey (17.6/g) and Taylor Feldman (16.6/g). Feldman scored 24 on Thursday against Montana.

* Montana State's Esmeralda Morales, a first-year transfer from Portland State, scored 30 points at Northern Arizona on Saturday and is averaging 14.8 points on the season.

* Thursday in the Big Sky: WSU at UM, ISU at MSU, UNC at PSU, NAU at SAC

* Saturday in the Big Sky: ISU at UM, WSU at MSU, EWU at UI, NAU at PSU, UNC at SAC

* Monday in the Big Sky: UM at UI, MSU at EWU

Upcoming: Montana will host Montana State at Dahlberg Arena at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 25.

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Players Mentioned

Dani Bartsch

MJ Bruno

Mack Konig

Aby Shubert

Avery Waddington

University of Montana Athletics