Flathead’s Johnson, Hornets Knock off Lady Griz

BOISE, Idaho -- Summer Menke scored 18 points and Kalispell’s Tiana Johnson added 11 to push Sacramento State past Montana 65-58 at the Big Sky Conference women’s basketball tournament Monday.

It was a stunning loss for the fifth-seeded Lady Griz, who ended their season 12-11 under first-year coach Mike Petrino. Sac State, which hadn’t won a postseason game since 2016, improved to 3-21. The 11th-seeded Hornets will play third-seeded Montana State Wednesday.

Five players reached double figures for Sac State. The 5-foot-10 Menke added 14 rebounds and Johnson grabbed six despite being limited to 21 minutes because of foul trouble.

Sophia Stiles had 17 points to lead Montana, but uncharacteristically missed six free throws. That epitomized Montana’s struggles: The Lady Griz shot just 30 percent (20 for 67) from the floor, missed 27 of 31 3-pointers and had 15 turnovers.

The Lady Griz still raced to a 9-2 lead, were up 19-12 after one quarter and 28-19 with 2:13 left in the first half. The Hornets closed to 30-27 by halftime and kept the pressure on, taking their first lead, 50-49, on Menke’s basket with 5:43 left in the game.

Buckets from Milee Enger, Johnson and Sarah Abney pushed the lead to 56-49 at the 1:51 mark, and Johnson answered a three by UM’s Madi Schoening with a layup for a 59-52 advantage with a minute left.

Montana closed to 62-58 with a Stiles 3-pointer, but Johnson hit one free throw and Abney hit two in the final 16 seconds to close out the scoring.

Enger and Abney ended with 10 points each and Jordan Olivares had 15 for Sac State. Abby Anderson added 14 for Montana, and Carmen Gfeller checked in with 11.