Lady Griz survive 40 by Bea; Bobcats lose finale

MISSOULA — Idaho’s Beyonce Bea went off but the Vandals’ 3-point shooters did not, and the Montana Lady Griz pulled out an 85-82 Big Sky Conference basketball win Monday on Selvig Court.

Sammy Fatkin led five Lady Griz in double figures with 21 points; Carmen Gfeller added 1 8 points and Dani Bartsch, Mack Konig and Gina Marxen all checked in with 11.

Bartsch and Fatkin also had 12 rebounds each, leading Montana (14-15 overall, 10-8 in the Big Sky) to a 43-36 advantage on the boards.

But the main factor may have been guarding the 3-point line against Idaho. The Lady Griz guarded Bea one-one-one and she scored 40 points on 17 of 30 shooting.

Ashlyn Wallace and Sydney Gandy added 11 each for the Vandals (13-16, 9-9), and Flathead High product Tiana Johnson checked in with nine.

Idaho was 7 of 23 from the arc, compared to Montana’s 11 of 25.

“It was kind of our plan. We weren’t going to double (Bea) because 40 points doesn’t beat you,” said Lady Griz coach Brian Holsinger, whose club gave up 12 threes in a 69-61 loss at Idaho last month. ““We wanted to take away the three and see if she can go one-on-one and score however many points. I knew we’d give up a few layups taking away the three like that, but they feed off the three.”

The Vandals, who can bury a team from the arc if it let’s them, hit just three 3-pointers through three quarters. Leading 37-34 at the half, Montana used a strong start to the third quarter to build a 13-point lead, went up 11 in the fourth quarter, then held on to make winners of Fatkin and Katerina Tsineke on Senior Night.

Bea’s 40 points is the most scored against the Lady Griz in Missoula; Oregon’s Bev Smith poured in 38 in 1981.

“Credit to her. She made it interesting for a long time. She’s a really good player and got a lot of buckets. Our kids battled and battled. A lot of kids guarded her,” Holsinger said.

Gfeller grabbed seven rebounds, and 10 of her points came in the fourth quarter as Montana fought off every surge Idaho made.

After the Vandals cut an 11-point lead to three, 71-68, with nearly six minutes still to go, Gfeller scored inside and then hit a pair of 3-pointers that put Montana up 77-68, then 84-76.

who scored inside. Her 3-pointer a minute later made it 77-68. Her final points, another

The win snapped Montana’s three-game losing streak and gave the Lady Griz the No. 5 seed into the Big Sky tournament. The Lady Griz play No. 4 seed Eastern Washington Monday at noon.

Eastern’s 78-65 win at Montana State on Monday made it a three-way tie atop the Big Sky standings at 13-5 between Northern Arizona, MSU and Sacramento State.

The Lumberjacks, who went 4-0 against Montana State and Sacramento State, will be the tournament’s No. 1 seed, the Bobcats the No. 2 seed and the Hornets the No. 3 seed.

Eagles 78, Bobcats 65

BOZEMAN — Montana State got the start they wanted, but a dismal second quarter proved too much to overcome against Eastern Washington..

Aaliyah Alexander scored 21 points to lead five Eagles in double figures, and Eastern rallied to break Montana State’s solo hold on first place in the Big Sky Conferenc.e

The Bobcats (20-10, 13-5) enjoyed a 27-13 lead 23 seconds into the second period following a Madison Jackson jumper. Then they connected on just 2 of their next 18 shots and Eastern (18-10, 11-7) caught up.

Darian White’s coast-to-coast layup at the halftime buzzer drew MSU even at 31-all.

A 10-1 run gave Eastern a 47-37 leat 6:17 of the third quarter, and MSU came no closer than five after that.

“We had a fantastic first quarter, then we just got in our own way,” said MSU head coach Tricia Binford. “We lacked focus, didn’t play our style of basketball and we made too many mistakes. Credit Eastern Washington for taking advantage of our situation.”

White scored a game-high 27 points in her final game in Worthington Arena, giving her 1,702 career points and becoming the third Bobcat in history, joining Kathleen McLaughlin Howard (1,761) and Katie Bussey (1,710), to reach the milestone. The mark also puts her among the top 20 all-time scorers in Big Sky Conference history.

Also in double-figure for the Bobcats was Jackson; the senior finished with 11 points. Senior Kola Bad Bear paced MSU under the boards, pulling down a season-high 10.

“Our biggest strength heading into the tournament is the takeaway from this game,” Binford said. “No one in the postgame locker room felt good about our performance. We’ll use it as motivation. Winning a regular season Big Sky title is hard, and the kids need to recognize that. We will regroup, learn from our mistakes, and move on.”

Jacinta Buckley had 13 points and 12 rebounds for Eastern.

Montana State plays Sunday at 2:30 p.m. at the Big Sky Tournament in Boise, against either Portland State or Idaho State.

2023 Big Sky Women's Basketball Championship

All Times Mountain

March 4-8

Idaho Central Arena, Boise

First Round: Saturday, March 4

Game 1: #9 Northern Colorado vs. #10 Weber State, noon (ESPN+)

Game 2: #7 Portland State vs. #8 Idaho State, 2:30 p.m. (ESPN+)

Second Round: Sunday, March 5

Game 3: #1 Northern Arizona vs. Game 1 Winner, noon (ESPN+)

Game 4: #2 Montana State vs. Game 2 Winner, 2:30 p.m. (ESPN+)

Third Round: Monday, March 6

Game 5: #4 Eastern Washington vs. #5 Montana, noon. (ESPN+)

Game 6: #3 Sacramento State vs. #6 Idaho, 2:30 p.m. (ESPN+)

Semifinals: Tuesday, March 7

Game 7: Game 3 Winner vs. Game 5 Winner, noon. (ESPN+)

Game 8: Game 4 Winner vs. Game 6 Winner, 2:30 p.m. (ESPN+)

Championship: Wednesday, March 8

Game 9: Semifinal Winners – 3 p.m. (ESPNU and ESPN+)

2023 Big Sky Men's Basketball Championship

First Round – Saturday, March 4 (all times Mountain)

Game 1: Northern Arizona vs. Idaho – 5:30 p.m. (ESPN+)

Game 2: Portland State vs. Northern Colorado – 8:00 p.m. (ESPN+)

Second Round – Sunday, March 5

Game 3: Eastern Washington vs. Game 1 Winner – 5:30 p.m. (ESPN+)

Game 4: Montana State vs. Game 2 Winner – 8:00 p.m. (ESPN+)

Third Round – Monday, March 6

Game 5: Montana vs. Idaho State – 5:30 p.m. (ESPN+)

Game 6: Weber State vs. Sacramento State – 8:00 p.m. (ESPN+)

Semifinals – Tuesday, March 7

Game 7: Game 3 Winner vs. Game 5 Winner – 6:30 p.m. (ESPNU and ESPN+)

Game 8: Game 4 Winner vs. Game 6 Winner – 9:00 p.m. (ESPN2 and ESPN+)

Championship – Wednesday, March 8

Game 9: Game 7 Winner vs. Game 8 Winner – 9:30 p.m. (ESPN2 and ESPN+)