Lady Griz rally past Portland St.

MISSOULA — The Montana Lady Griz nailed down a Boise bye and a spot in the Big Sky Conference Championship quarterfinals with a 74-61 home win over Portland State on Saturday afternoon at Dahlberg Arena.

The Lady Griz (12-16, 8-9 BSC) fell behind 23-10 after the first quarter but still completed an important home-stand sweep that started on Thursday with a win over Sacramento State.

The win, coupled with Northern Arizona’s 80-70 win over Northern Colorado Saturday, clinched the bye. 

“Is there better basketball to be played? Absolutely. But there is something to be said for having resolve and grit and finding a way,” UM interim coach Nate Harris said. “I thought we showed that in spades the last two games.”

Portland State (4-22, 1-16 BSC) went 10 for 16 and hit three 3-pointers in the frst epriod. The Lady Griz opened 1 for 13 and trailed 39-34 at the half.  In the fourth quarter Montana used a 9-0 run to turn a 51-51 deadlock into a 60-51 lead.

Avery Waddington started it with a 3-pointer, Aby Shubert finished it with another. The two reserves combined to shoot 7 for 12 from the arc. Waddington had 18 pointsand Shubert nine.

Mack Konig finished with 17 points on six shots and seven assists.

On Senior Day, Tyler McCliment-Call added 16 points and six rebounds and Dani Bartsch totaled eight rebounds, four assists and four steals.