Lady Griz, Bobcats fall in Big Sky women’s semis
BOISE, Idaho — The Big Sky Conference women’s basketball tournament championship will not have a Montana feel, after both Treasure State teams lost in Tuesday’s semifinals at Idaho Central Arena.
First, top-seeded Eastern Washington got 16 points from Jacinta Buckley in a 56-39 victory over Montana State. Then Sophie Glancey’s 21 points led Northern Arizona over the Montana Lady Griz, 74-69.
The Eastern Eagles (28-5) and Lumberjacks (25-8) will battle for the Big Sky championship at 3 p.m. Wednesday. The game will air on ESPNU. The finalists split their regular-season meetings.
NAU 74, Montana 69
The team that’s been making the Lady Griz the Lady Griz again came up one game short.
They shot 3 for 17 in the first quarter to fall behind, and despite pulling even at 51-all on two Maggie Espenmiller-McGraw free throws in the third quarter — and closing to xx-xx in the fourth — couldn’t forge ahead.
Grace Beasley added 18 points and Leia Beattie 13 for the Lumberjacks.
“Really proud of our kids. We came out in the third quarter playing the right way, but we just couldn’t get over the hump,” third-year Lady Griz coach Brian Holsinger said. “That’s really it. We didn’t get timely defensive stops. You have to give credit to NAU. They found ways. They are experienced in these moments at finding ways.”
Montana will now wait until Sunday night to find out if its season gets extended.
After 68 teams are announced for the NCAA tournament, the NCAA’s new WBIT will take another 32, then 48 will get selected for the WNIT. Montana has a NET national ranking of 95.
“I don’t think we’re done,” said Holsinger, whose program has not played in a national tournament since 2015. “I think we’ve done enough. If we get to play in the postseason, that’s another milestone that hasn’t been done in Lady Griz basketball in a very long time.”
Carmen Gfeller and Mack Konig both scored 21 points to lead Montana (22-9). It was Konig who sparked the Lady Griz in the third quarter, hitting three 3-pointers in the opening six minutes of the second half. Montana trailed 55-53 after three quarters.
Glancey banked in a 3-pointer from the top of the key early in the fourth period and Beasley — after a pair of Konig free throws made it 60-59 with seven minutes to play — hit another big 3-pointer.
After Konig cut the gap to two, NAU scored six straight points and wouldn’t lead by less than five in the last 5:19.
Dani Bartsch grabbed 11 rebounds. Her ninth rebound of the game was her 319th of the season, breaking Jill Greenfield’s program record that had stood since 1981.
Espenmiller-McGraw’s lone 3-pointer of the game, in the second quarter, was her 75th of the season and matched McCalle Feller’s program record. The Lady Griz reached 20 wins for the first time since Robin Selvig was coach, and won a postseason game for the first time since 2018.
Eastern 56, MSU 39
Besides Buckley points, Eastern held MSU to 26 percent shooting and forced 19 turnovers while winning its 12th straight game.
The Eagles outscored the Bobcats (17-16) 18-6 in the second quarter to lead 28-17 at halftime.
A layup by Katelyn Limardo and a putback by Taylor Janssen out of the locker room trimmed Eastern’s lead to 28-21, and the Cats trailed 34-26 on Limardo’s layup six minutes into the third quarter.
Aaliyah Alexander’s layup the next time down the floor pushed Eastern’s advantage to 10 points, and MSU never trailed by less than double digits the rest of the game.
A 7-0 run to open the fourth quarter sealed the Eagles’ win. They shot 8 of 9 in that critical second quarter and 14 of 38 the rest of the way.
“Our defense is what’s been consistent for us all year,” MSU head coach Tricia Binford said. “Our offense has been a little bit inconsistent and in and out. When you go into the Big Sky tournament it’s a little bit more physical. I felt like we had some good looks, they just didn’t drop, but Eastern Washington was really good defensively.”
Jamie Loera added 12 points and Alexander had 10 points and 10 rebounds for Eastern, which will make its first title game appearance since 2019.
Limardo led MSU with nine points and Madison Hall scored eight in her Blue and Gold finale. The Bobcats forced EWU into 20 turnovers, while registering 11 steals.
“I’m proud of this team for what they’ve been through this season, what they’ve endured, and how they continued to battle,” Binford said.