Lady Griz give up late lead, fall at Houston

Tuesday, December 16

Houston, Texas

10 AM (MT)

Montana

2-7

Houston

6-5

Montana

Houston

12/16/2025 2:08:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

By: Montana Sports Information

The Montana women's basketball team put itself in position to pick up its first Power 4 road win since 2008 on Tuesday but Houston made the plays down the stretch to pull out a 60-54 victory at UH's Fertitta Center.

After the Lady Griz (2-7) built a 50-43 lead with 4:09 to play on two Rae Ehrman free throws, the Cougars (6-5) picked up the defensive intensity and finished the game on a 17-4 run to snap a two-game losing streak.

"Really proud of the effort and really proud of the growth and the things we did well," said coach Nate Harris. "We had lots of chances to win that game.

"It was a frustrating end but a net positive. We did a lot right that we can build on, but when you come up short on the scoreboard, it has the same feeling as the rest of them."

Houston held Montana without a made basket over the final 6:47, after Mack Konig finished at the rim and added a free throw to give the Lady Griz a 47-41 lead.

Montana had five turnovers in the fourth quarter, four coming in the final four minutes.

"They picked up full court the entire time and we handled it in chunks," said Harris. "That last chunk, we had a few people get a little too passive and we took too many risks when we were already up and didn't need to make a play. We just needed to break the pressure.

"Houston is really long and really athletic. That's their two biggest things, basketball-wise. They have great size and are athletic at every spot. We won't see teams that athletic throughout the remainder of our year."

The game's momentum swung in the moments right after Ehrman's free throws gave Montana a 50-43 lead.

Briana Peguero hit a 3-pointer from the right wing while getting fouled with 3:52 to go, turning Houston's seven-point deficit into a one-possession game with Peguero's successful and-one free throw.

Kierra Merchant made it 50-49 with 2:16 left, then she hit two free throws with 1:49 remaining that gave Houston the lead for good, 51-50.

Taking her first free throws of the season, Aby Shubert hit two to make it a one-point game, 53-52, with 1:28 left. The teams traded turnovers before TK Pitts hit a back-breaking 3-pointer with 29 seconds on the clock to put the Cougars up 56-52.

Montana led for nearly 25 minutes in a back-and-forth game that had 12 lead changes.

Jocelyn Land, who had four steals, scored 12 of her game-high 15 points in the second half, Konig finished with 13 points, Avery Waddington had seven points and a team-high eight rebounds.

Montana got the start it wanted, going up 14-9 on a Draya Wacker 3-pointer late in the first quarter, and Shubert put the Lady Griz up eight in the second quarter, 23-15.

Like it would do at the end of the game, Houston closed the first half on a tear, outscoring Montana 11-0 over the final 3:19 to take a 26-23 lead to the locker room.

The Cougars scored the opening points of the third quarter, but Land answered with a 3-pointer and five straight points from Waddington gave Montana a 31-30 advantage.

The lead would change hands seven times over the final four minutes of the third quarter, which ended with Waddington giving Montana a 42-41 advantage with a late finish at the rim.

The Lady Griz would score the opening six points of the fourth quarter, going up 48-41 on a Konig free throw. Ehrman's free throws kept Montana's lead at seven, 50-43, before Houston's big finish.

Montana fell despite holding the Cougars to 34.9 percent shooting and 4 for 18 from the 3-point line.

"I thought our zone looked good," said Harris. "I thought we did some really good stuff, especially in the middle two quarters on the glass against a team that is more athletic than most we're going to see.

"I thought we took away the paint and really stifled them and made life really tough."

Peguero scored 14 points for Houston, Pitts had an 11-point, 12-rebound double-double.

Montana's three-game road trip to Texas will conclude Friday and Saturday at Abilene Christian's Christmas Classic.

The Lady Griz will face the host Wildcats (6-4) on Friday at 4:30 p.m. (MT), Tarleton State (5-4) at noon (MT) on Saturday.