THE MATCHUP
The Lady Griz rolled out of a potentially season-defining win over Montana State and into a dogfight for the few remaining byes in the Big Sky Conference tournament. Idaho won five straight since a 76-73 loss in Missoula to put itself in a tie with Sacramento State and Northern Arizona with eight conference losses, one game behind the fourth-place Lady Griz in the loss column. With the top five teams getting byes, Montana needed a win Wednesday at Northern Colorado to maintain its advantage. The Bears had lost two in a row to fall to 7-11 in conference and out of that race for a bye.
THE RESULT
The boogeyman in Montana’s nightmares tonight will have an afro and a delicate shooting touch. After two free throws by Kyndall Keller put Montana up by seven points with a minute, four seconds to play, Northern Colorado’s Alexis Chapman hit two 3-pointers in the final minute – including one off glass with nine seconds to play – and the Bears closed the game on an 8-1 run to send it to overtime tied at 60.
Northern Colorado then won the extra period 12-4 to walk away with an improbable win.
Montana never trailed in regulation after the first five minutes of the game, but committed two turnovers, including a five-second violation, in the final minute.
The Lady Griz also had a chance to seal the game at the line, but Carmen Gfeller split a pair of free throws with 13 seconds left to keep it a one-possession game, and Chapman followed with a banked-in 3 to send it to overtime.
Montana shot 35.6% from the field, and just 1 of 9 in overtime. Both teams committed 16 turnovers in a sloppy game.
THE STANDOUTS
Redshirt junior forward Gfeller, coming off a career-high 34 points against Montana State, led Montana with 16 points on 6 of 10 shooting. Her two buckets facing up from the high post helped Montana answer a Northern Colorado run midway through the fourth quarter and looked to be the defining stretch of the game before the Bears’ comeback.
Gfeller also 43 of a possible 45 minutes.
Nyah Morris-Nelson, Sophia Stiles and Abby Anderson also finished in double figures for the Lady Griz with 11, 10 and 10 points, respectively.
A fifth-year graduate student, Chapman matched her career-high, putting up 23 points and making 5 of 8 3-pointers. It was her sixth game in double figures this year.
Hannah Simental added 16 points and Kurstyn Harden 15, plus a game-high eight rebounds, for the Bears.
QUOTABLE
“I was worried about coming out flat, and that’s what we did. I tried every trick in the book to get them fired up for this game, and I couldn’t do it. We were flat the entire game.” – Montana head coach Brian Holsinger
“You give a team some hope, and you see what happened. We didn’t execute, and you have to execute. A lot of mental mistakes. We shouldn’t have been in that position.” – Montana head coach Brian Holsinger
BOX SCORE (CLICK)
SOCIAL
FINAL: Northern Colorado 72, Montana 64, OT.
— Skyline Sports (@SkylineSportsMT) March 3, 2022
Old demons pop up yet again after Lady Griz hoped they had vanquished them with breakthrough win over rival Montana State on Saturday.
Lady Griz led 43-31 before letting it slip away. UM falls to 11-8 in #BigSkyWBB play pic.twitter.com/yc3xSBGOMQ
FINAL: Micayla Isenbart hits two FTs and puts it away for UNC. The Bears come back from 12 down to win 72-64.
— Jadyn Watson-Fisher (@jwatsonfisher) March 3, 2022
Northern Colorado comes back from a seven-point deficit in the final 52 seconds of regulation to force overtime, goes on for the victory. pic.twitter.com/QC4iuTWgso
— Montana Lady Griz (@MontanaGrizWBB) March 3, 2022
In the final 19 seconds: a Montana turnover on an inbounds pass (4.54 seconds but called 5 seconds), a Lady Griz missed free throw, a banked-in Northern Colorado 3-pointer. And the game is headed to overtime tied at 60.
— Montana Lady Griz (@MontanaGrizWBB) March 3, 2022
Gfeller scores inside to push the lead to seven. Veteran response from Montana on the road when everything was going Northern Colorado's way. pic.twitter.com/7GOGUbcEyX
— Montana Lady Griz (@MontanaGrizWBB) March 3, 2022
WHAT’S NEXT
Montana (18-10, 11-8 Big Sky Conference) plays at Sacramento State on Friday in a game that will have a huge impact on tournament seeding. After Wednesday’s games, Montana, Northern Arizona and Idaho are all tied with eight conference losses, with Sacramento State one game behind in the loss column.
Northern Colorado (12-15, 8-11) hosts Montana State on Friday. The Bobcats can win a share of the regular season conference championship with a victory.
