Thursday, February 5
Cheney, Wash.
7 PM (MT)
Montana
at
Eastern Washington
Photo by: Ryan Brennecke / University of Montana
Lady Griz return to the road, face Eagles, Vandals
2/3/2026 10:05:00 AM | Women's Basketball
The Montana women's basketball team, which has won four of its last five, will be on the road this week for games at Eastern Washington and Idaho.
The Lady Griz (7-14, 4-6 BSC) will face the Eagles (11-11, 4-5 BSC) on Thursday at 7 p.m. (MT) at Reese Court in Cheney, the Vandals (17-5, 8-1 BSC) at 3 p.m. (MT) on Saturday at ICCU Arena in Moscow.
Montana extended its winning streak to four games, its longest in nearly two years, with a 69-63 home win over Portland State on Thursday.
Sacramento State put an end to that winning streak with a 64-57 victory at Dahlberg Arena on Saturday, the Hornets' second-ever win over the Lady Griz in Missoula.
Montana will host Big Sky leader Montana State next week, then remain at home for games against Idaho State and Weber State on Feb. 19 and 21.
The regular season ends with a Thursday-Saturday-Monday stretch of games against Sacramento State, Portland State and Northern Colorado at the end of the month and early March.
Coverage: Both games this week will stream on ESPN+ and have radio coverage on KGRZ (1450 AM/92.7 FM) and the Varsity Network with Ace Sauerwein.
What's at stake: Thursday's match-up between Montana and Eastern Washington is important from the big-picture view of the postseason and teams trying to finish out of the bottom four and avoid a play-in game in Boise at the Big Sky tournament.
The Lady Griz are currently in seventh, with the top six seeds assured of a spot in the quarterfinal round. Eastern Washington is half a game up on Montana and already holding a victory over the Lady Griz in Missoula last month.
A win by Montana on Thursday would vault the Lady Griz over the Eagles in the standings and give them five wins in six games. A win by Eastern Washington would put the Eagles two games up in the loss column and give them a season sweep and an important head-to-head tiebreaker.
With Sacramento State's loss at Weber State on Monday night, the Hornets, at 5-5 in league, are in that mix as well.
Montana follows Thursday's game with match-ups against the top two teams in the league, at Idaho on Saturday and at home against Montana State on Saturday, Feb. 14. The Vandals and Bobcats play in Moscow on Thursday night. MSU won the teams' first meeting 99-66 in Bozeman.
Additional storylines:
* Montana's last five games have been tight and tense down the stretch, all five a one-possession game in the final minute. The Lady Griz pulled out wins over Northern Arizona, Weber State, Idaho State and Portland State by a total of 14 points before falling by seven on Saturday against Sacramento State.
* Avery Waddington took advantage of Portland State's defensive game plan and lit the Vikings up for a career-high 31 points on Thursday on 13-of-20 shooting. She also added 10 rebounds for her fourth double-double of the season, the seventh of her career. Her previous career high was 21 points.
* Waddington became the third Lady Griz player to reach 30 points this season, after Jocelyn Land scored 30 at North Dakota and Mack Konig put 35 on Tarleton State right before Christmas.
It marks the first time in program history that Montana has had three different players post 30-point games in the same season.
As of Monday, Montana is the only NCAA Division I women's basketball team with three players who have scored 30 or more points in a game this season.
* Over the last five games, Montana has been up and down with its 3-point shooting. The Lady Griz went 14 for 28 in a home win over Northern Arizona and 15 for 36 in a road win at Idaho State. Against Weber State, Portland State and Sacramento State, Montana went 20 for 92 (.217).
Montana made a season-low two 3-pointers in Thursday's win over Portland State, partly because of the Vikings' game plan. The Lady Griz took a season-high 41 3-point attempts, out of 62 shots overall, in Saturday's home loss to Sacramento State. They connected on 11.
Montana ranks fifth nationally in 3-point attempts per game (30.4), 10th in 3-pointers made per game (9.4).
* Mack Konig made her return to the court in Saturday's home loss to Sacramento State. She hadn't played since Jan. 3 at Northern Colorado, at which point she was averaging a team-leading 17.4 points per game.
She came off the bench on Saturday and played 21 minutes, totaling three assists and two points.
* Monday's NET rankings: Montana State (60), Idaho (111), Idaho State (125), Northern Colorado (153), Eastern Washington (215), Sacramento State (226), Northern Arizona (245), Montana (258), Weber State (269) and Portland State (319).
* Montana is 3-7 on the road this season, winning its last two away from home, at Weber State and Idaho State. The Lady Griz also won at North Dakota in early December.
* Montana out-rebounded Portland State 47-38 on Thursday, a season-high margin against a Division I opponent and only the third time this season the Lady Griz have out-rebounded a Division I opponent.
* After totaling three wins combined in November and December, Montana went 4-6 in January.
* Draya Wacker's five career games of 10 or more points have all come in Montana's last eight games. Wacker grabbed a career-high 11 rebounds in Thursday's home win over Portland State.
* Over the last four games, Avery Waddington is averaging 19.5 points on 57.9 percent shooting. During that same stretch of games, Rae Ehrman is averaging 13.3 points on 54.5 percent shooting while going 11 for 22 (.500) from the 3-point line.
At a glance (Eastern Washington): The Eagles split their games last week, winning a high-scoring match-up at Northern Arizona on Thursday, 93-87, then returning to Cheney for a home game on Saturday afternoon, a 71-62 loss to Northern Colorado.
Eastern Washington has some of the best balance in the league, with four players, three of whom are underclassmen, averaging between 11.6 and 15.0 points per game.
Freshman guard Elyn Bowers leads the team in scoring. Sophomore Kourtney Grossman ranks second nationally in rebounding (13.0/g), behind North Texas 6-foot-4 senior Megan Nestor.
The first meeting: Montana led Eastern Washington by two at the half but a big third quarter by the Eagles propelled them to a 65-58 win in Missoula on Jan. 10.
Eastern Washington went 9 for 17 in the third quarter and built a pair of 14-point leads in the fourth before Montana scored 10 points in the final two minutes to cut the final deficit to seven.
Ella Gallatin scored 20 points on 10-of-17 shooting while Grossman totaled 11 points and 17 rebounds.
Avery Waddington had 16 points and 10 rebounds for Montana in its second game without Mack Konig.
Series history: Montana leads the all-time series with Eastern Washington 78-31 and has gone 29-18 against the Eagles in Cheney. The Eagles have won two straight in the series and six of the last seven.
At a glance (Idaho): The Vandals roll into Thursday's big match-up against Montana State in Moscow on a six-game winning streak, their last loss by 30 against the Bobcats last month in Bozeman.
Idaho has won nine of 10 overall, is 17-5 and has gone 8-1 in Moscow this season, averaging 88.7 points in those nine games. The Vandals' only home loss came by a score of 92-89 to Oral Roberts in early December in the Big Sky-Summit League Challenge.
Idaho is averaging 79.7 points, 21st in the nation, while shooting 43.2 percent. The Vandals rank 10th nationally in rebounding margin (+10.7). They average more than 16 offensive rebounds per game.
Like the Eagles, the Vandals have some nicely balanced scoring as well, with four players in double figures, five at 8.9 or more.
Hope Hassmann averages 13.8 points and leads the team with 91 assists. Washington State transfer Kyra Gardner averages 13.5 points and 7.0 rebounds. She has made 46 3-pointers on 34.1 percent shooting from the arc.
The first meeting: Idaho led nearly from start to finish in its 67-50 win in Missoula last month, Montana's first game without Mack Konig. Without their senior point guard, the Lady Griz shot 32.1 percent and turned the ball over 23 times.
Idaho led 29-19 at the half, then shot 14 for 23 (.609) in the second half to pull away. Gardner had 28 points, 11 rebounds and seven steals.
Jocelyn Land led Montana with 15 points. Idaho held Avery Waddington without a shot attempt over the game's final 38 minutes, after she hit an early 3-pointer for her only attempt of the game.
Series history: Montana leads the all-time series against Idaho 49-20. The Lady Griz are 17-14 against the Vandals in Moscow.
Idaho has won three of the teams' last four overall match-ups and eight of the last nine games played in Moscow.
Around the Big Sky Conference:
* After dropping its first league game of the season at Idaho State, Big Sky leader Montana State flexed its muscles and outscored Weber State, Sacramento State and Portland State by 103 points.
That included a 66-31 home win over the Hornets and a 91-43 home victory over the Vikings that saw the Bobcats race out to a 31-1 lead early in the second quarter.
* Idaho also has only one league loss, putting the top two teams in the standings two games clear in the loss column of Northern Colorado (7-3 BSC) and Idaho State (7-3 BSC).
* The next tier of teams is Sacramento State (5-5 BSC), Eastern Washington (4-5) and Montana (4-6). The Lady Griz still have one game remaining against all six teams ahead of them in the standings.
* Thursday games: ISU at NAU, WSU at UNC, UM at EWU, MSU at UI
* Non-Montana game to monitor: Montana State at Idaho. The teams are a combined 17-2 in league, 33-10 overall. Montana State got away from the Vandals and won their first meeting 99-66.
* Saturday games: SAC at PSU, WSU at NAU, ISU at UNC, MSU at EWU, UM at UI
* Non-Montana game to monitor: Idaho State at Northern Colorado. Both teams are hanging near the top of the standings, hoping for a slip by one of the top two to move up the standings. The Bears won the first meeting in Pocatello 67-56.
Upcoming: Montana will host current Big Sky leader Montana State on Saturday afternoon, Feb. 14, the Lady Griz' only game next week.
The Lady Griz (7-14, 4-6 BSC) will face the Eagles (11-11, 4-5 BSC) on Thursday at 7 p.m. (MT) at Reese Court in Cheney, the Vandals (17-5, 8-1 BSC) at 3 p.m. (MT) on Saturday at ICCU Arena in Moscow.
Montana extended its winning streak to four games, its longest in nearly two years, with a 69-63 home win over Portland State on Thursday.
Sacramento State put an end to that winning streak with a 64-57 victory at Dahlberg Arena on Saturday, the Hornets' second-ever win over the Lady Griz in Missoula.
Montana will host Big Sky leader Montana State next week, then remain at home for games against Idaho State and Weber State on Feb. 19 and 21.
The regular season ends with a Thursday-Saturday-Monday stretch of games against Sacramento State, Portland State and Northern Colorado at the end of the month and early March.
Coverage: Both games this week will stream on ESPN+ and have radio coverage on KGRZ (1450 AM/92.7 FM) and the Varsity Network with Ace Sauerwein.
What's at stake: Thursday's match-up between Montana and Eastern Washington is important from the big-picture view of the postseason and teams trying to finish out of the bottom four and avoid a play-in game in Boise at the Big Sky tournament.
The Lady Griz are currently in seventh, with the top six seeds assured of a spot in the quarterfinal round. Eastern Washington is half a game up on Montana and already holding a victory over the Lady Griz in Missoula last month.
A win by Montana on Thursday would vault the Lady Griz over the Eagles in the standings and give them five wins in six games. A win by Eastern Washington would put the Eagles two games up in the loss column and give them a season sweep and an important head-to-head tiebreaker.
With Sacramento State's loss at Weber State on Monday night, the Hornets, at 5-5 in league, are in that mix as well.
Montana follows Thursday's game with match-ups against the top two teams in the league, at Idaho on Saturday and at home against Montana State on Saturday, Feb. 14. The Vandals and Bobcats play in Moscow on Thursday night. MSU won the teams' first meeting 99-66 in Bozeman.
Additional storylines:
* Montana's last five games have been tight and tense down the stretch, all five a one-possession game in the final minute. The Lady Griz pulled out wins over Northern Arizona, Weber State, Idaho State and Portland State by a total of 14 points before falling by seven on Saturday against Sacramento State.
* Avery Waddington took advantage of Portland State's defensive game plan and lit the Vikings up for a career-high 31 points on Thursday on 13-of-20 shooting. She also added 10 rebounds for her fourth double-double of the season, the seventh of her career. Her previous career high was 21 points.
* Waddington became the third Lady Griz player to reach 30 points this season, after Jocelyn Land scored 30 at North Dakota and Mack Konig put 35 on Tarleton State right before Christmas.
It marks the first time in program history that Montana has had three different players post 30-point games in the same season.
As of Monday, Montana is the only NCAA Division I women's basketball team with three players who have scored 30 or more points in a game this season.
* Over the last five games, Montana has been up and down with its 3-point shooting. The Lady Griz went 14 for 28 in a home win over Northern Arizona and 15 for 36 in a road win at Idaho State. Against Weber State, Portland State and Sacramento State, Montana went 20 for 92 (.217).
Montana made a season-low two 3-pointers in Thursday's win over Portland State, partly because of the Vikings' game plan. The Lady Griz took a season-high 41 3-point attempts, out of 62 shots overall, in Saturday's home loss to Sacramento State. They connected on 11.
Montana ranks fifth nationally in 3-point attempts per game (30.4), 10th in 3-pointers made per game (9.4).
* Mack Konig made her return to the court in Saturday's home loss to Sacramento State. She hadn't played since Jan. 3 at Northern Colorado, at which point she was averaging a team-leading 17.4 points per game.
She came off the bench on Saturday and played 21 minutes, totaling three assists and two points.
* Monday's NET rankings: Montana State (60), Idaho (111), Idaho State (125), Northern Colorado (153), Eastern Washington (215), Sacramento State (226), Northern Arizona (245), Montana (258), Weber State (269) and Portland State (319).
* Montana is 3-7 on the road this season, winning its last two away from home, at Weber State and Idaho State. The Lady Griz also won at North Dakota in early December.
* Montana out-rebounded Portland State 47-38 on Thursday, a season-high margin against a Division I opponent and only the third time this season the Lady Griz have out-rebounded a Division I opponent.
* After totaling three wins combined in November and December, Montana went 4-6 in January.
* Draya Wacker's five career games of 10 or more points have all come in Montana's last eight games. Wacker grabbed a career-high 11 rebounds in Thursday's home win over Portland State.
* Over the last four games, Avery Waddington is averaging 19.5 points on 57.9 percent shooting. During that same stretch of games, Rae Ehrman is averaging 13.3 points on 54.5 percent shooting while going 11 for 22 (.500) from the 3-point line.
At a glance (Eastern Washington): The Eagles split their games last week, winning a high-scoring match-up at Northern Arizona on Thursday, 93-87, then returning to Cheney for a home game on Saturday afternoon, a 71-62 loss to Northern Colorado.
Eastern Washington has some of the best balance in the league, with four players, three of whom are underclassmen, averaging between 11.6 and 15.0 points per game.
Freshman guard Elyn Bowers leads the team in scoring. Sophomore Kourtney Grossman ranks second nationally in rebounding (13.0/g), behind North Texas 6-foot-4 senior Megan Nestor.
The first meeting: Montana led Eastern Washington by two at the half but a big third quarter by the Eagles propelled them to a 65-58 win in Missoula on Jan. 10.
Eastern Washington went 9 for 17 in the third quarter and built a pair of 14-point leads in the fourth before Montana scored 10 points in the final two minutes to cut the final deficit to seven.
Ella Gallatin scored 20 points on 10-of-17 shooting while Grossman totaled 11 points and 17 rebounds.
Avery Waddington had 16 points and 10 rebounds for Montana in its second game without Mack Konig.
Series history: Montana leads the all-time series with Eastern Washington 78-31 and has gone 29-18 against the Eagles in Cheney. The Eagles have won two straight in the series and six of the last seven.
At a glance (Idaho): The Vandals roll into Thursday's big match-up against Montana State in Moscow on a six-game winning streak, their last loss by 30 against the Bobcats last month in Bozeman.
Idaho has won nine of 10 overall, is 17-5 and has gone 8-1 in Moscow this season, averaging 88.7 points in those nine games. The Vandals' only home loss came by a score of 92-89 to Oral Roberts in early December in the Big Sky-Summit League Challenge.
Idaho is averaging 79.7 points, 21st in the nation, while shooting 43.2 percent. The Vandals rank 10th nationally in rebounding margin (+10.7). They average more than 16 offensive rebounds per game.
Like the Eagles, the Vandals have some nicely balanced scoring as well, with four players in double figures, five at 8.9 or more.
Hope Hassmann averages 13.8 points and leads the team with 91 assists. Washington State transfer Kyra Gardner averages 13.5 points and 7.0 rebounds. She has made 46 3-pointers on 34.1 percent shooting from the arc.
The first meeting: Idaho led nearly from start to finish in its 67-50 win in Missoula last month, Montana's first game without Mack Konig. Without their senior point guard, the Lady Griz shot 32.1 percent and turned the ball over 23 times.
Idaho led 29-19 at the half, then shot 14 for 23 (.609) in the second half to pull away. Gardner had 28 points, 11 rebounds and seven steals.
Jocelyn Land led Montana with 15 points. Idaho held Avery Waddington without a shot attempt over the game's final 38 minutes, after she hit an early 3-pointer for her only attempt of the game.
Series history: Montana leads the all-time series against Idaho 49-20. The Lady Griz are 17-14 against the Vandals in Moscow.
Idaho has won three of the teams' last four overall match-ups and eight of the last nine games played in Moscow.
Around the Big Sky Conference:
* After dropping its first league game of the season at Idaho State, Big Sky leader Montana State flexed its muscles and outscored Weber State, Sacramento State and Portland State by 103 points.
That included a 66-31 home win over the Hornets and a 91-43 home victory over the Vikings that saw the Bobcats race out to a 31-1 lead early in the second quarter.
* Idaho also has only one league loss, putting the top two teams in the standings two games clear in the loss column of Northern Colorado (7-3 BSC) and Idaho State (7-3 BSC).
* The next tier of teams is Sacramento State (5-5 BSC), Eastern Washington (4-5) and Montana (4-6). The Lady Griz still have one game remaining against all six teams ahead of them in the standings.
* Thursday games: ISU at NAU, WSU at UNC, UM at EWU, MSU at UI
* Non-Montana game to monitor: Montana State at Idaho. The teams are a combined 17-2 in league, 33-10 overall. Montana State got away from the Vandals and won their first meeting 99-66.
* Saturday games: SAC at PSU, WSU at NAU, ISU at UNC, MSU at EWU, UM at UI
* Non-Montana game to monitor: Idaho State at Northern Colorado. Both teams are hanging near the top of the standings, hoping for a slip by one of the top two to move up the standings. The Bears won the first meeting in Pocatello 67-56.
Upcoming: Montana will host current Big Sky leader Montana State on Saturday afternoon, Feb. 14, the Lady Griz' only game next week.
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