MISSOULA, Montana — The celebration was reminiscent of a team that has just taken care of business rather than one of a team who had achieved any sort of monumental accomplishment.
And why not? If you are the Montana State women’s basketball team, winning at Dahlberg Arena has become old hat.
If you are Darian White, Kola Bad Bear and MSU’s core of veteran standouts, beating the Lady Griz has become a habit, too.
That continued on Saturday as Montana State sharply earned a 72-63 victory over Montana in Missoula.
“It’s exciting,” White said after pouring in a game-high 22 points. “This is one of our most challenging games of the season. I’m also looking forward to seeing what we can build off this game.”
For decades, the lore around the Montana Lady Griz was the envy of small-school women’s basketball programs across the nation. And Dahlberg Arena was hallowed ground.
Montana only lost 61 times in 572 home games under former head coach Robin Selvig. Even in the seven years since Selvig retired, UM’s home mark was 55-37. Even during the doldrums of the Shannon Schweyen era, the Lady Griz were still tough to beat at home, especially against Big Sky teams.
But Tricia Binford’s Bobcats have found the formula in the Garden City more than the rest of the Big Sky Conference.
And on Saturday afternoon, the systematic execution of the Lady Griz at the hands of White and the Bobcats arguably has never been so sharp.
In a matchup between the two teams picked to finish atop the Big Sky standings in the preseason polls, Saturday’s game was billed as the final showdown between groups of seniors for each MSU and UM.
While Montana’s precocious freshmen duo of Mack Konig and Libby Stump instead carried the day for the Lady Griz — particularly in a first half that saw the hosts trail 37-35 at the break — Montana State never flinched.
Any time the Bobcats seemed to be in peril, White sliced into the lane at will, either pulling up for her trademark runner in traffic or dishing to an open shooter, helping the Bobcats pull away with precise composure and the cold-blooded attitude of their fierce leader in dispatching of their once-fierce rivals.
Montana didn’t make a field goal until more than nine minutes into the second half. Meanwhile, White and the Bobcats pushed the pace and the margin, pushing the lead to as many as 19 points.
Despite a barrage of late 3-points led by Konig, MSU never lost its calm, finishing off yet another win against its rival. And this one felt more decisive as the Bobcats never had a moment of panic and never relinquished control.
“The pregame speech was ‘What do you want the headline to be tomorrow regardless of stat line?” Binford said. “Your ability to respond, your ability to stay together. There is going to be momentum swings, there is going to be loud moments, there is going to be quiet moments. What can we control in those situations?
“I feel like they did a great job. It was one of the most composed teams in Dahlberg that I’ve coached and we’ve had a lot of good teams over the years.”
The Bobcats have now won 11 of the 13 rivalry contests played between the two teams since Selvig retired. Selvig went 78-10 against MSU during his 38 seasons at the helm for UM.
Montana State’s victory avenged last season’s loss in Missoula. That defeat snapped a seven-game winning streak for MSU over the Lady Griz.
“There was a lot of lessons learned last year,” Binford said. “The Griz really got us here last year. The year prior was covid so the experience in Dahlberg was really different with fans. I thought we were a little more prepared (this year) that it was going to be a lot louder, what was communication going to look like, really try to simplify our call list because they weren’t going to be able to hear us.”
For White and Bad Bear, they have now won six of their seven career matchups against the rivals, including winning three times in four years in Missoula.
And for the Lady Griz, the squad is now 2-5 in home games this season after its second loss at Dahlberg less than a week.
Montana State’s fourth straight victory moved MSU to 6-2 in Big Sky play, 13-7 overall. UM is now 4-4 in league, 8-11 overall.
White, Montana State’s three-time All-Big Sky point guard, helped her team settle into the hostile environment early. She converted five of her first six field goals, including hitting a pair of contested 3-pointers as MSU opened up an 18-8 lead early.
Stump, a former 4-star shooting guard from Ferndale, Washington and Konig, a smooth point guard from Milton, Ontario, each showed no fear from the outset. They each hit big shots to spark a 10-0 run to end the first quarter and begin the second quarter.
By halftime, Montana had nailed six 3-pointers, a huge factor in helping the hosts stay in the game.
But in the second half, Montana State went back to its customary constantly switching defensive scheme, holding the Lady Griz without a made field goal for the first nine minutes of the third quarter to push the lead to almost 20 points.
“In an atmosphere like this, playing together as a team and staying relaxed and composed is a huge thing and I think we did very well tonight,” White said.
Lady Griz senior Carmen Gfeller came into Saturday’s game averaging 13.0 points per game, tops on UM and one of the best marks in the league. Last season against Montana State, she ripped the net from start to finish, hitting five 3-pointers and going 11-of-16 from the field on the way to a career-high 34 points.
Saturday, Bad Bear spearheaded a defensive effort on Gfeller that limited her touches and made her work for shots. Gfeller also got in foul trouble early, relegating her to just five first half minutes. She ended the contest 0-of-4 from the floor and scored just two points
“We knew she was one of the highest scorers in the league, so to just make sure we are staying active,” Bad Bear said. “She’s a physical player so we were able to be physical back. We focused on staying together as a group and that was our job and I thought we executed it well.”
Konig, who went 4-of-4 from deep and scored a career-high 20 points, hit two triples in the final five minutes to keep the margin in single digits. Stump, who went 4-of-8 from deep and 7-of-15 overall, finished with 21 points.
But Montana’s senior trio of Gfeller, combo guard Sammy Fatkin and point guard Gina Marxen went a combined 4-of-22 from the floor, including 1-of-11 from beyond the arc. Those three combined for 11 of Montana’s 18 turnovers and combined to score 15 points.
Every time Konig or Stump would hit a 3-pointer that might spark a run, Montana State would answer. The Bobcats stayed calm throughout and never looked like anything other than a team that fully expected to come into Dahlberg Arena and win.
Part of it is experience, part of it is the savvy that starts with White and Bad Bear. And part of it is the calm, prepared, confidence-instilling style that trademarks Binford’s coaching style.
When Bad Bear — a Billings Senior product who finished with 13 points and seven rebounds — converted an old-fashioned 3-point play with 1:46 left, it became clear that times have changed.
The lore of the Lady Griz is becoming exactly that: a historical relic of the past that continues to drift in the present day.
The Bobcats are the class of the Big Sky Conference now, consistently leaving little doubt who the team to beat is if anyone else wants to go to the Big Dance.
Saturday marked yet another rivalry game notch for Binford, who has now led her team to eight victories in Dahlberg, all since 2010. And it marked another league win as Montana State chases a return trip to the NCAA Tournament.
“This is definitely one of our most challenging games throughout the season and we prepared pretty well I’d say throughout the week, just trying to tell everyone what to expect because we know that this arena is challenging to play in,” White said. “We tried to prepare for all the things we were going to face and I feel we were very well prepared for this.”
Photos by Brooks Nuanez – All Rights Reserved.
