THE MATCHUP
The Lady Griz, winners of four straight to climb into a tie for second place in the conference, faced what felt like a classic gatekeeper matchup between themselves and true contention on Thursday night. Idaho State is a long way away from the glories of their back-to-back conference championships, with almost all of the stalwarts from those teams gone and a 4-7 Big Sky record heading into Dahlberg Arena on Thursday. But the Bengals, with their grabbing, physical defense and slow, grinding offense, are still the perfect foil to challenge and test any young team with designs on taking that title themselves.
THE RESULT
In a game played almost entirely on Idaho State’s terms, a questionable foul sent the Bengals’ Cam Collman to the line with .9 seconds left. The redshirt freshman made both free throws to give ISU a 55-54 lead, and despite getting a good look, Montana’s Libby Stump left a midrange jumper short at the buzzer as the visitors snapped the Lady Griz’s four-game winning streak. The free throws capped an 18-10 fourth quarter advantage for Idaho State after Montana led 44-37 after three. The Lady Griz snapped out of a stagnant first half with a sizzling third quarter, going 9 for 13 from the field on a succession of tough shots and even getting a wild, from-the-hip Gina Marxen 3-pointer to beat the buzzer going to the fourth. That was the only stretch, though, in which they were able to consistently attack ISU’s defense. Montana shot 43% for the game with 17 turnovers.
THE STANDOUTS
Like an aging boxer who knows he doesn’t have much left, Idaho State – missing second-leading scorer Finley Garnett and fifth-leading scorer Kacey Spink – went back, over and over again, to its only effective options. Callie Bourne, the only returning starter from ISU’s title teams, scored 26 points on 26 shots, playing all 40 minutes and adding six rebounds and six assists. The Bengals’ young big Laura Bello added 18 points on 18 shots, plus 11 rebounds. Neither attempted a free throw, but they combined to take 44 of ISU’s 58 field-goal attempts and score 44 of the Bengals’ 55 points. Collman, who scored six of her eight points from the free-throw line, and Carsyn Boswell, whose only points came on a crucial late 3-pointer with under two minutes left to cut Montana’s four-point lead down to one, were the only other ISU players to score.
Marxen hit three 3-pointers in the third quarter and 5 of 7 overall for the game to lead Montana with 17 points. Carmen Gfeller also hit double figures with 10 points, while Dani Bartsch grabbed 12 rebounds and Mack Konig handed out six assists for Montana.
QUOTABLE
“We fell into the trap. I told them, (Idaho State) is going to muck it up, they’re going to be physical, they’re going to grab, they’re going to punch, they’re going to do everything they can to slow the game down and make it ugly because that’s what they do, that’s what their chance is. … And in the end, it doesn’t come down to the last play. I don’t know if it was a foul or not, but the bottom line is you can’t give a team like that a chance at the end.” – Montana coach Brian Holsinger
“Our kids relaxed. We were on them all week. You can do everything you can as a coach, because you know you feel good, and as soon as you start to feel good, you relax and you don’t play with the kind of edge you have to have to win in this league.” – Holsinger
UP NEXT
Montana (12-12, 8-5) hosts Weber State on Saturday at 2 p.m. That game will also serve as the official dedication of Robin Selvig Court. Idaho State (10-13, 5-7) plays at Montana State.
SOCIAL MEDIA
