Bengals lock down, top Lady Griz

Thursday, February 19

Missoula, Mont.

7 PM

Montana

7-18, 4-10BSC

Idaho State

18-8, 11-4BSC

Idaho St.

Montana

Photo by: Tommy Martino/University of Montana

2/19/2026 10:21:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

By: Montana Sports Information

Idaho State shot 52.8 percent and led from start to finish at Dahlberg Arena on Thursday night, defeating Montana 71-54.

The Bengals (18-8, 11-4 BSC) led 18-13 after the first quarter, then held the Lady Griz (7-18, 4-10 BSC) to six second-quarter points on 3-of-16 shooting to take control.

Idaho State led 33-19 at the half and by 20 or more for most of the second half.

"The game gets really hard when you take 35 minutes to decide that you're going to really compete," said coach Nate Harris, whose team defeated Idaho State in Pocatello last month, 70-67 in overtime.

"We didn't come out with a lot of juice, and it took way too long for us to fight back in a way that was meaningful against a team that was ready to go and wanted to beat us badly."

It was the fifth straight loss for Montana, which sits in eighth place in the Big Sky standings with four games to play in the regular season.

Piper Carlson led both teams with 19 points on 8-of-11 shooting. Tasia Jordan (12), Kacey Spink (11) and Aspen Caldwell (10) were also in double figures for the Bengals.

Montana shot 56.5 percent in the second half after going 8 for 29 (.276) over the first 20 minutes, but Idaho State was even better, going 16 for 24 (.667) to build a big lead and then hold it to the finish.

Down 25 points entering the fourth quarter, 57-32, Montana outscored Idaho State 22-14 over the final 10 minutes.

"The fight we showed in the final five minutes was something to build on and what we want this team to look like," said Harris.

"At some point, there has to be a line in the sand, that this isn't who we're going to be anymore."

Avery Waddington led Montana with 18 points. She was the only Lady Griz to reach double figures.

Mack Konig finished with nine points, Kennedy Gillette continued her strong recent play, scoring eight points off the bench, and redshirt freshman Ava Cossette scored six points down the stretch.

Cossette entered the game with just under four minutes left and with four points scored this season. She made a driving lay-up, hit a three and a free throw to get to her six points.

"I thought Avery was really aggressive for the entirety of the game," said Harris. "Kennedy finished the game really well and Ava, for her final stretch, was really aggressive and did some good things."

Montana will host Weber State (8-20, 2-13 BSC) on Saturday at 2 p.m. The Wildcats lost 81-36 at Montana State on Thursday night.