Lady Griz to face Vandals in Big Sky quarterfinal

The Montana women's basketball team will open the Big Sky Conference Championship with a quarterfinal game against Idaho on Monday afternoon in Boise.

The No. 6 seed Lady Griz (12-17) and No. 3 seed Vandals (18-11) will tip off at 2:30 p.m. inside Idaho Central Arena on the third day of the tournament.

Idaho defeated Montana twice during the regular season, 63-50 in Missoula and 70-57 in Moscow.

First-round games will take place on Saturday, the first of two days of quarterfinals will begin on Sunday. Semifinals will be played on Tuesday, the championship game on Wednesday.

All nine games of the women's tournament will stream on ESPN+. Wednesday's championship will also be shown on ESPNU.

At a glance (the field): Montana State (17-1) earned the No. 1 seed, Northern Arizona (16-2) the No. 2 seed. Those two teams will play on quarterfinal Sunday.

The league's bottom four teams – (7) Eastern Washington, (8) Sacramento State, (9) Northern Colorado and (10) Portland State – will open the tournament with first-round games on Saturday.

Monday's other quarterfinal game will be between No. 4 Weber State and No. 5 Idaho State at noon.

Games will be played at noon and 2:30 p.m. the first four days of the tournament, with
Wednesday's championship game scheduled to tip off at 3 p.m.

The road to Boise (Montana): The Lady Griz were picked third in the preseason polls but opened league 1-3 and were never in the race for a regular-season championship.

Montana went 0-6 against the top three seeds in the tournament field, only one of those six games decided by fewer than 13 points, its 67-66 home loss to Montana State.

The Lady Griz, who went from head coach Brian Holsinger to interim head coach Nate Harris during the season, made their way above .500 in Big Sky play with a home win over Northern Colorado.

Montana then lost four straight before playing its way into a quarterfinal game with home wins over Sacramento State and Portland State last weekend.

The Lady Griz ended the regular season with an 80-77 loss at Eastern Washington on Monday night, a game Montana led by three in the fourth quarter and by a point with two minutes to play.

The road to Boise (Idaho): Playing under their third head coach in three years, the Vandals were picked an understandable seventh in the preseason coaches' poll.

Under first-year coach Arthur Moreira and with a starting lineup of five first-year transfers, Idaho used a stingy defense to exceed expectations from the opening month of the season.

The Vandals went 8-3 before Christmas, then opened league with a 59-56 road loss at Montana State. They would win their next six to improve to 6-1 in league before undergoing a late-season leveling off.

Playing a high-profile game at Northern Arizona on Jan. 25, Idaho lost 106-76, which started a 4-7 finish to the season. The Vandals ended up tying for third in the final regular-season standings.

The season series: After opening league with an encouraging 78-70 home win over defending Big Sky champion Eastern Washington, Montana lost 63-50 to Idaho in Missoula on Jan. 4.

The Lady Griz turned the ball over 15 times, shot 39.2 percent and matched the fewest points they'd scored against the Vandals since 1976.

Avery Waddington had 15 points and nine rebounds off the bench for Montana, Mack Konig finished with 11 points and six assists.

Hope Hassmann led Idaho, which shot 17 for 27 (.630) in the second half, 45.6 percent overall, with 20 points. It was only the Vandals' fourth win over the Lady Griz in Missoula in 34 games.

The teams' second meeting, in Moscow just 16 days later, was Montana's third game in five days, and the game started accordingly.

The Lady Griz, who opened the game 0 for 9 with four turnovers before scoring their first point, fell behind 14-0 and were never able to bridge the gap.

Idaho led 35-25 at the half, went up 16 in the third quarter and 18 in the fourth before Montana pulled within 13 at the buzzer.

The Lady Griz shot 28.2 percent, their second-lowest percentage of the season behind their road loss at Minnesota. Konig was Montana's leading scorer with 10 points.

Idaho, which shot 46.4 percent and went 8 for 20 from the 3-point line, showed off its balance with five players in double figures, six scoring between eight and 15 points.

Series history: Montana leads the all-time series with Idaho 48-19. The teams have split their two previous neutral-site match-ups.

The teams met in an Eastern Area Qualifying game in 1976 at an unknown neutral-site location, then in Boise last March in a quarterfinal game, the seeds flipped, No. 3 Montana against No. 6 Idaho.

The Vandals won the neutral-site match-up in 1976, 53-41. In last year's game in Boise, Montana led 20-11 after the first quarter, 36-26 at the half and built a 24-point lead in the third quarter.

Idaho closed the margin to 12 by the final buzzer, Montana winning 73-61 behind Maggie Espenmiller-McGraw's 15 points and Dani Bartsch's 14 rebounds.

Kennedy Johnson had 24 points and nine rebounds for Idaho. Kennedy is now at St. Mary's, where she has started 29 games and is averaging 12.0 points and 5.5 rebounds for the Gaels.

Idaho's win in January snapped Montana's four-game winning streak over the Vandals.

Tournament bona fides (Montana): The Lady Griz have played in a conference tournament every season since 1982-83 and have an all-time record of 57-21.

This year marks only the sixth time in 43 tournaments that Montana goes in with a seed of 6 or lower. The Lady Griz are 6-14 all-time in games when they have been the lower seed.

The Lady Griz are 15-15 in neutral-site games at conference tournaments, just 3-9 since the Big Sky went to a true neutral-site format in 2015-16, the first of three years in Reno before shifting to Boise.

Montana went 2-3 in three years of tournaments at Reno and had been 0-5 in five years in Boise before breaking through with its win over Idaho last season.

Montana then lost 74-67 to No. 2 Northern Arizona in last year's semifinals.

The Lady Griz are 8-6 in quarterfinal games, 0-1 as the No. 6 seed, 3-1 against Idaho.

Montana's only other time playing as the No. 6 seed came at the end of the disjointed 2020-21 season, a 65-58 loss to No. 11 Sacramento State, Bunky Harkleroad's last win as coach of the Hornets.

The Vandals defeated Montana in the Mountain West Athletic Conference championship game in Moscow in 1984-85.

The Lady Griz defeated Idaho in the Big Sky championship game in Missoula in back-to-back seasons, 63-49 in 1988-89 and 64-49 in 1989-90.

The teams did not meet again in the postseason until last March.

Montana has twice won the tournament championship by winning three games, in 2011 as the No. 4 seed at Portland State and in 2015 in Missoula as the No. 1 seed.

Tournament bona fides (Idaho): The Vandals won the Mountain West Athletic Conference tournament in 1985, the WAC postseason title in 2013 and '14 under former coach Jon Newlee.

Idaho won the Big Sky's first neutral-site tournament, in Reno in 2015-16, also under Newlee, who is now coaching in Australia.

Montana notes:

* On a four-game losing streak and on the first-round bubble, Montana came through with home wins over Sacramento State and Portland State last week to earn a bye to the quarterfinals in Boise.

Neither win came easily. Montana trailed Sacramento State 59-58 with four minutes left before going on a game-deciding 11-0 run.

Two days later, against the last-place Vikings, Montana trailed 23-10 after the first quarter, 39-34 at halftime and didn't take its first lead in the game until the 4:54 mark of the third quarter.

* In Montana's game against Sacramento State, Hornets' point guard Benthe Versteeg had a 14-point, 12-rebound, 10-assist triple-double, only the second-ever by an opponent of the Lady Griz.

Portland State point guard Claire Faucher went for 21 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists against Montana back in the 2007-08 season.

(Note: Montana has never had a player record a triple-double.)

* After playing the previous seven games with a splint to protect a broken finger on her shooting hand and a tape job that hindered her play, Mack Konig closed the season strong.

Facing Sacramento State, Portland State and Eastern Washington over a span of five days, Konig averaged 16.3 points on 65.4 percent shooting, 8.7 assists and 4.7 rebounds.

In the three games she shot 17 for 26 (.654), going 5 for 6 (.833) from the 3-point line and 10 for 12 (.833) from the free throw line.

Konig earned Big Sky Conference Player of the Week honors on Tuesday. It was a first for Konig and a first for Montana this season.

* Dani Bartsch grabbed 20 rebounds in Montana's final three regular-season games, giving her 880 for her career.

That moved her past Big Sky Hall of Famer Shannon Cate on the Lady Griz career list and into third, behind only Hollie Tyler (952) and Ann Lake (886).

* Over the regular season's final 11 games, freshman Avery Waddington led Montana in scoring at 12.5 points per game. She has 275 points on the season.

Montana's top freshman scoring seasons: Hollie Tyler (375, 2001-02), Mandy Morales (366, 2005-06), Taylor Goligoski (230, 2016-17), Shannon Cate (312, 1988-89), Skyla Sisco (308, 1994-95).

(Morales', Goligoski's and Sisco's total were done as redshirt freshmen.)

* Waddington is playing 26.7 minutes per game this season. It's the most by a true freshman for Montana since Katie Baker averaged 26.7 minutes in 2009-10.

* Waddington ranks second on the team in scoring (9.5/g), rebounding (5.8/g) and blocks (22), and third in assists (51) and steals (27). She has a shooting slash line of .451/.379/.923.

* Mack Konig has 146 assists this season. She is 11 assists shy of having a top-10 assists season in program history.

* Montana closed the season making 11, 12, 10, 13 and nine 3-pointers in its final five games. The team's season total of 258 is the second-highest in program history, behind last year's 357.

* Montana went just 3-12 away from Missoula during the regular season, with wins at North Dakota, Portland State and Sacramento State. Those teams have NET rankings of 232, 319 and 213, respectively.

* Izabella Zingaro is shooting 59.1 percent this season. That would be a program record but she won't meet the minimum to 200 shot attempts to qualify. She is currently at 154.

* Over her last 10 games played, Aby Shubert is 26 for 59 (.441) from the 3-point line, averaging 2.6 makes per game. She has taken only four non-3-pointers during that time, only 12 on the season.

* Montana ranks in the top 25 nationally in 3-pointers made (18th, 8.9/g), free throw percentage (21st, .774), 3-point attempts (23rd, 25.8/g) and bench points (25th, 25.2/g).

* Konig ranks 31st nationally, second in the Big Sky in assists (5.2/g).

* Over the last three games, Montana is 38 for 45 (.844) from the free throw line and has had 17 more assists than turnovers.

* Montana will need to win three games in three days to win the Big Sky tournament. The Lady Griz have won three consecutive games only one time this season.

That three-game winning streak came against teams playing on first-round Saturday: Portland State, Sacramento State and Northern Colorado.

* Tyler McCliment-Call goes into the postseason with 966 career points scored, between Portland, Stephen F. Austin and Montana.

McCliment-Call made 50 and 51 3-pointers over her final two seasons at SFA. She has made 46 this season on career-best 38.3 percent shooting.

Idaho notes:

* The Vandals go into the tournament 4-7 in their last 11 games but are still the same salty defensive team that gave Montana fits in both regular-season match-ups.

Idaho is allowing 59.8 points per game on 36.0 percent shooting, the latter ranking 13th in the nation.

The Vandals not only defend, they also are an excellent rebounding team, ranking sixth nationally in defensive rebounds (30.2/g), 35th in rebounding margin (+6.4/g).

* Idaho has used the same starting lineup in all 29 games this season, which highlights the team's consistency and its ability to remain injury-free.

* Olivia Nelson, first-team All-Big Sky and the league's Newcomer of the Year, leads the team in scoring (14.3/g). She played four years at NCAA Division II Central Missouri prior to her one season at Idaho.

She ranks fifth in the Big Sky in scoring average.

* Sophomore Hope Hassmann played last year at Cal State Fullerton. She averages 12.1 points and leads the team in assists (102).

* Jennifer Aadland, who played four years at NCAA Division II Augustana, averages 9.7 points and 9.6 rebounds. She ranks second in the Big Sky, 38th nationally in rebounds per game.

* The team's other starters are Rosie Schweizer (Pacific) and Anja Bukvic (Louisiana Tech).

* Idaho went 0-6 this season against Montana State, Northern Arizona and Idaho State. The Vandals also had three-point losses at Sacramento State and at Eastern Washington.

* Idaho lost its regular-season finale on Monday, falling 67-54 at home to shorthanded Montana State. The Vandals led 16-11 after the first quarter but got outscored 56-38 over the final 30 minutes.

The Bobcats forced 20 Idaho turnovers and held the Vandals to 36.2 percent shooting.

* Idaho's 18 wins are the most in a season since the Vandals won 22 games in 2019-20. That team was going to play Montana State in the Big Sky championship game before COVID did its thing.

* Moreira's 18 wins are the second-most for a first-year Idaho coach in program history, surpassing Tara VanDerveer's 17 wins in her first year with the Vandals in 1978-79.

Pat Dobratz owns the first-year record, going 22-8 in 1980-81 after VanDerveer left to coach Ohio State. Dobratz had a six-year record at Idaho of 142-39 before leaving to coach youth swimming in Seattle.

Upcoming: It will be NCAA tournament or nothing for Montana, which won't earn a spot in a secondary tournament with its below-.500 record and NET ranking of 205.

Then all eyes will turn to the head coaching position and how that process and decision plays out.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Dani Bartsch

Maggie Espenmiller-McGraw

Mack Konig

Tyler McCliment-Call

Aby Shubert

Avery Waddington

Izabella Zingaro

University of Montana Athletics