Second-half rally comes up short

Monday, March 2

Missoula, Mont.

7 PM

Montana

8-21, 5-13BSC

Northern Colorado

22-9, 13-5BSC

Northern Colo.

Montana

Photo by: John Sieber via UM Athletics

3/2/2026 10:53:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

By: Montana Sports Information

There was a decision to be made on Monday night inside Dahlberg Arena, a pretty important one when Montana women's basketball coach Nate Harris called a timeout early in the third quarter of his team's game against Northern Colorado.

Trailing 36-25 at the break, the Lady Griz had just allowed UNC's Julia Riley, who had already hit three 3-pointers in the first half, to get open and hit two more in the opening 68 seconds of the second half.

The Bears were up 17 and on the verge of burying the home team.

That Montana had a shot at the rim, one that would have tied the game, a shot that rolled off in the closing seconds tells you how his players answered it before even hearing Harris's question.

"It got away from us a little bit early in the third quarter and we called a timeout. Hey, we have an option. We can cash in our chips and be done or we can compete and fight down the stretch," said Harris, whose team lost 61-59 to the Bears in its final regular-season game.

"They chose to compete and really scrapped it out down the stretch. We had some opportunities to get over the hump but we just couldn't quite get there."

The Bears looked every bit the team that won their 22nd game of the season on Monday and finished third in the Big Sky with a 13-5 league record. At least for the first 25-plus minutes.

Balancing 16 points scored in the paint and a 6-for-13 effort from the 3-point line in the first half, Northern Colorado led comfortably at the break.

The lead quickly became 17 points, forcing Harris to call a timeout less than two minutes into the second half. Then: the ultimatum. Are we done fighting or not?

Any rally would have to start on the defensive end, and it did. Montana held the Bears to one made field goal over the final 4:49 of the third quarter, then 3-for-13 shooting in the fourth quarter.

A Northern Colorado team that had looked unbothered and confident on the offensive end began tensing up. Passes were mishandled, shots were rushed. The Bears' floundering breathed life into the Lady Griz.

"Got a few key stops and gave ourselves a chance at the end, which is all you can hope for," said Harris.

Montana trailed 50-36 entering the fourth quarter and still trailed by 14, 57-43, when Aniah Hall scored inside with 6:46 to go.

It wasn't much later that Harris inserted redshirt freshman Ava Cossette into the game, her first action of the night. When she checked out two minutes, 50 seconds later, the 14-point lead had been cut to four, 57-53. And there were still four minutes still to be played.

"She was plus-10 in three minutes. She goes in and gets a hand on a ball and we get a steal, she has a great cut and gets fouled. She was a real spark in those few minutes," said Harris.

After two free throws by Mack Konig made it 59-55 with 2:46 remaining, it would be more than two tense minutes before the next points would be scored.

Montana called a timeout with 34 seconds left, advanced the ball to the frontcourt and Draya Wacker, doing her best Keali'i Ah Yat impression, fitting with new Griz football coach Bobby Kennedy sitting courtside, put an inbound pass at the rim that Avery Waddington went up and finished through contact.

It was a two-point game with 32 seconds left, the first time it had been that close since early in the second quarter.

Waddington missed the and-one but Montana forced a turnover just a few seconds later, giving the Lady Griz a chance to get to the top of the hump, maybe even over it.

The ball was put in Waddington's hands and she was, as she was most of the game, quickly harassed by help defenders. She kicked it to Jocelyn Land, who passed on an open three and took it to the basket. Her shot rolled around 180 degrees of the rim before kicking out.

Neenah George hit two pressure-filled free throws with six seconds left to end it. Waddington scored on an offensive-rebound put-back at the buzzer for the game's final points.

"It wasn't what we drew up but it was the organic play that happened when they doubled Avery," said Harris of Land's shot. "She had a good shot-fake and got downhill and had a real clean look at it to tie the game."

It's a small injustice to Aby Shubert that she isn't mentioned until this late in the recap, considering she scored 19 points on 5-of-11 shooting from the 3-point line.

Her points and threes made were both career highs, and she did her best to keep Montana in it in the first half. She had 11 of her team's 25 points at the break.

"She had a tremendous performance. I thought she was really locked in," said Harris. "She really scrapped on the defensive end and really carried us offensively by hitting some timely threes and being aggressive."

Land also scored 19 points, giving her four straight games with 10 or more after going eight straight in single digits.

Northern Colorado limited Waddington to just six shots and eight points but she was still a big presence. She had seven rebounds, five assists, two blocks and two steals.

Riley finished 5 for 7 from the 3-point line and led Northern Colorado with 15 points. Tatum West added a 13-point, 15-rebound double-double, with Gabi Fields adding 10 points.

In the Bears' 77-58 victory over the Lady Griz in Greeley back on Jan. 3, Heather Baymon came off the bench to hit seven 3-pointers and score 29 points. Baymon had just five points on Monday, shooting 2 for 12, 1 of 8 from the 3-point line.

Montana, which will be the No. 8 seed, now turns its focus to Boise and the Big Sky Conference Championship, which opens on Saturday.

The Lady Griz will face No. 7 Northern Arizona in a first-round game at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday at Idaho Central Arena. The winner will advance to play No. 2 Montana State on Sunday at 2:30 p.m. in a quarterfinal game.

Montana and Northern Arizona split in the regular season, the Lumberjacks winning 81-72 in Flagstaff, the Lady Griz 76-72 in Missoula.