Lady Griz close nonconference at Christmas Classic

Friday, December 19

Abilene, Texas

4:30 PM (MT)

Montana

Abilene Christian

Photo by: Noah Epps/university of Montana

12/18/2025 4:04:00 PM | Women's Basketball

PDF Game Notes

By: Montana Sports Information

The Montana women's basketball team will wrap up its non-conference schedule with a pair of games at the Abilene Christian Christmas Classic this weekend.

The Lady Griz (2-7) will play the host Wildcats (6-4) at 4:30 p.m. (MT) on Friday, then take on Tarleton State (5-4) at noon (MT) on Saturday.

The games will be played at ACU's Moody Coliseum in Abilene, Texas. Buffalo is the fourth team in the Christmas Classic field.

Montana opened its three-game Texas trip with a 60-54 loss at Houston on Tuesday, a game the Lady Griz led by seven with four minutes to play.

Saturday's game against Tarleton State will be Montana's final game before opening Big Sky Conference play on Thursday, Jan. 1, at Northern Arizona.

Coverage: Friday's game will stream on ESPN+, Saturday's on WAC International. Both will have radio coverage on KGRZ (1450 AM/92.7 FM) and on the Varsity Network.

Lady Griz notes:

* Montana will be playing Abilene Christian and Tarleton State, both members of the WAC, for the first time. Both finalized the move from Division II to Division I within the last decade.

* Mack Konig (14.8/g), Jocelyn Land (13.0/g) and Avery Waddington (12.1/g) lead Montana in scoring. One of those three has led the Lady Griz in scoring in each of the team's nine games this season.

Land and Waddington both have a pair of 20-point scoring games this season. Konig scored 23 at Oregon and has been in double figures in 14 of Montana's last 15 games dating back to last season.

* Montana held Houston to 34.9 percent shooting on Tuesday, the team's best defensive field goal percentage against a Division I opponent this season.

* Montana's 19 made 3-pointers at North Dakota continue to be tied for the second-most threes by an NCAA Division I team this season, trailing only Troy's 20 against Oakwood.

The Lady Griz' 16 makes against South Dakota State are tied for 18th.

* Montana ranks in the top 50 nationally in threes attempted (third, 32.0/g), threes made (ninth, 10.1/g) and turnovers per game (44th, 13.6/g). The Lady Griz lead the Big Sky in those three categories.

* Land ranks 37th nationally with 2.78 made threes per game. Her eight made threes against South Dakota State are tied for the sixth-most threes made in Division I this season.

* Land's 30-point game at North Dakota continues to lead the Big Sky. It is one of 95 scoring performances of 30 points or more in NCAA Division I this season.

* Avery Waddington grabbed eight or more rebounds in four of Montana's last five games. Her season average (7.2/g) ranks fifth in the Big Sky. She has led the Lady Griz in seven of nine games this season.

* Waddington is shooting 44.0 percent overall and has gone 16 for 40 (.400) from the 3-point line, 13 for 15 (.867) from the free throw line. She leads the team in rebounding, blocks (10) and steals (12).

* Freshman Rae Ehrman has opened her collegiate career shooting 18 for 34 (.529). She is 12 for 28 from the 3-point line. … Forty of Aby Shubert's 50 shots this season have come from the 3-point line.

* Macy Donarski, who has started all nine games this season, has 15 assists and has turned the ball over only five times in 223 minutes of court time.

* NET rankings of the teams competing in the Christmas Classic: Abilene Christian (103), Tarleton State (215), Buffalo (242) and Montana (262).

Last time out: Houston 60, Montana 54 – The Lady Griz opened their Texas trip with a 60-54 loss at Houston on Tuesday, a game Montana held the lead for nearly 25 minutes.

The Lady Griz led by eight in the first half and twice built seven-point leads in the fourth quarter, including going up 50-43 on two Rae Ehrman free throws with 4:09 to go.

Houston would hold Montana without a made basket over the game's final 6:47 and outscored the Lady Griz 17-4 over the final 3:52.

Montana had the ball with a minute left while trailing by a single point, 53-52, but missed and Houston hit a game-clinching 3-pointer at the other end.

The Lady Griz were trying for their first Power 4 road win since the 2008-09 season, when Montana won at Oregon.

Land scored 15 points, Konig had 13, with Waddington adding seven points and a team-high eight rebounds.

Houston forced 19 Montana turnovers, four critical ones in the final four minutes, the most for the Lady Griz since turning the ball over 23 times at Oregon.

At a glance (Abilene Christian): The Wildcats are 6-4 and have had four competitive losses, by one, three, six and 10 points, the last a 67-57 setback against 12-0 Texas Tech on Sunday.

ACU opened 4-1, with a 77-76 loss at Stephen F. Austin, then fell 62-59 to Northwestern and 80-74 to Bradley in neutral-site games in Florida.

Two more wins followed before Sunday's neutral-site loss against Texas Tech.

Abilene Christian coach Julie Goodenough has been a head coach for all but one season since 1993-94, first at Hardin-Simmons, then Oklahoma State, then Charleston Southern.

She took over at Abilene Christian, then a Division II program, in 2012-13. She has led the Wildcats to three WNITs, one WBI and to the 2019 NCAA tournament.

She has gone 256-147 at ACU, 545-367 for her career.

Abilene Christian went 22-13 last season and tied for fourth in the WAC with a 9-7 league record. The Wildcats advanced to the WNIT, where they won a pair of games before falling in the round of 16.

Abilene Christian was picked first in this year's WAC preseason coaches' poll, edging out California Baptist.

Junior guard Payton Hull and junior 6-foot-3 center Meredith Mayes both were named to the five-player Preseason All-WAC team, with Hull being named the WAC Preseason Player of the Year.

Hull averaged 19.0 points last season, Mayes averaged 11.3 points on 59.4 percent shooting and 7.2 rebounds.

Hull, who scored 23 against Texas Tech, is averaging 17.9 points this season, Mayes is averaging 14.5 points on 69.0 percent shooting and 8.0 rebounds. Mayes has taken 84 shots this season, has made 58.

Junior Erin Woodson (12.9/g) and junior Emma Troxell (10.8/g) give Abilene Christian four starters averaging in double figures. The fifth starter, Breanna Davis, leads the team with 33 assists.

ACU is averaging 75.8 points on 44.5 percent shooting.

At a glance (Tarleton State): The Texans were an NCAA Division II power, making the national tournament nine times between 2006 and '19, before moving up to Division I in 2020.

Tarleton State had its first 20-win season as a Division I program last season, going 20-14 and advancing to the WNIT.

The Texans were picked fifth out of seven teams in this year's WAC preseason poll, with senior guard Jakoriah Long getting named to the five-player Preseason All-WAC team.

Tarleton State is under third-year coach Bill Brock, who's been coaching since 1982 and was a three-time national champion on Kim Mulkey's staff at Baylor.

After coaching at Grayson College from 1987 to 2000, Brock joined Mulkey's first staff at Baylor. The Bears won the 2005 national championship.

Brock spent three years on staff at Texas Tech before rejoining Mulkey at Baylor from 2009 to '21, where he won two more national championships, in 2012 and '19.

He was the head coach at McLennan CC for the 2022-23 season before getting hired by Tarleton State.

His third team is 5-4 and strong defensively, holding opponents to 63.2 points on 36.6 percent shooting.

Senior guard Gia Adams, who is at her fourth school, is averaging a team-high 11.6 points per game.

Junior forward Shadasia Brackens, a transfer from North Texas, averages 10.7 points on 53.6 percent shooting and 8.1 rebounds.

Tarleton State enters the Christmas Classic on a three-game winning streak, with victories over Texas State, Mississippi Valley State and Texas A&M-San Antonio.

Upcoming: A short Christmas break, then the start of Big Sky play, on the road at Northern Arizona and Northern Colorado.