Lady Griz use big 2nd half to pull away, win opener

Tuesday, November 3

Missoula, Mont.

7 PM

Montana

1-0

Montana Western

Team	1	2	3	4	F
Montana Western	14	14	7	10	45
Montana	15	17	32	27	91

Photo by: Marley Barboeisel/University of

11/3/2026 10:24:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Photo Gallery

By: Montana Sports Information

After a sketchy first half that had Montana up only four at the break against Montana Western in the Lady Griz' season opener on Tuesday night at Dahlberg Arena in Missoula, the home team showed its potential over the game's final 20 minutes.

The Lady Griz, ahead 32-28 in the locker room, outscored the Bulldogs 59-17 in the second half to pull away for a 91-45 victory.

"I thought we really responded," said second-year coach Nate Harris. "We got up and down and did some good things and responded with a high-energy, high-effort second half."

Ninety-one didn't feel possible after a slow start to the game. Facing Montana Western's zone, which Montana picked apart for plenty of open looks, the Lady Griz shot 13 for 38 (.342) in the first half, putting up 15 points in the first quarter, 17 in the second.

Montana kept doing the right thing, getting the ball to the open free throw line and shooting or attacking the basket, but plenty of missed shots were the result.

"We shot a ton of mid-range jumpers. That was the spot that was open in their zone. We missed a few of those, missed some lay-ups. We were just a little bit choppy," said Harris.

"I think it was nerves, the chance to play at home and the chance to play in front of people. It wasn't our cleanest effort to start."

Montana Western's Marisa Snider had more than half her team's 28 first-half points, scoring 15.

Paige Lofing, with Western daring her to shoot from the perimeter, obliged and hit a pair of early 3-pointers in her first two minutes off the bench as Lady Griz. Her six first-half points led Montana.

The halftime message? "We have to do a better job getting the ball to the paint and we have to do a better job defensively," said Harris.

"It was a little choppy in the second half with a ton of subs, trying to get people opportunities. There wasn't a ton of flow but I thought our kids really responded. The game got really fast in the second half. They wanted to go and we have no problem getting up and down."

Montana shot 24 for 40 (.600) in the second half, with the Lady Griz hitting seven of their 14 tries from the 3-point line.

Freshman Hayden Kaut was particularly destructive, scoring more points than minutes played in the second half. She hit three 3-pointers and scored 11 points in the second half to finish with a team-high 13 for the game.

"Who knew Hayden was going to be such a gunner? We haven't seen that all year," Harris joked afterwards.

Kaut was one of eight newcomers to make their Lady Griz debut on Tuesday night.

Lofing finished with 11 points, two assists, two blocks and a steal, Dominique Nesland had 11 points, five rebounds, four assists and three steals. Kennedy Moore scored 10 points on 5-of-6 shooting, and Shay Shippen had six points, three rebounds and three assists.

Harris's four freshmen all saw good minutes off the bench. In addition to Kaut, Kate Holmquist scored eight points on 3-of-4 shooting and added three assists, Kamryn Reinker had two assists, Avory DeCoite, somehow always in the middle of the action, had four rebounds, two assists and two steals.

"I thought they all did some really, really good things," said Harris. "Paige was really efficient in her minutes and really knows how to score it. Kennedy was really efficient, really solid. Dom did a great job with her pace and her tempo, getting up and down.

"We had returners who did a really good job, too."

Avery Waddington had her eighth career double-double, going for 11 points and 11 rebounds while matching Nesland for the team high with four assists.

Rae Ehrman came off the bench to go 3 for 5 from the 3-point line.

Twelve of the 13 players who stepped on the court scored, 10 of them had at least one assist as Montana totaled 24, its most in nearly two years. The Lady Griz shot 47.4 percent for the game.

Montana held Western to 6-of-28 (.214) shooting in the second half, 27.6 percent shooting for the game. Snider finished with 18 points.

The Lady Griz will leave later this week to start the BYU-Kansas State road trip.

"(This road trip) will be a whole new challenge," said Harris. "We're going to have to clean up a lot of things defensively. We made a lot of mistakes. We have to improve on those things and keep getting better."

Montana will play BYU on Saturday at 2 p.m. in Provo.