Jace Henderson faked a hook shot over her right shoulder, then stepped back through to her left.
The layup despite contact gave her 29 points.
The old-fashioned 3-point gave her an even 30. More importantly, it gave the Montana Lady Griz a three-point lead with just over a minute left, proving to be the difference in an instant-classic 82-79 victory for the Lady Griz over Idaho Saturday in front of 2,795 at Dahlberg Arena.
Henderson finished with 31 points on 13-of-17 shooting, and 12 rebounds in an iconic performance for the Lady Griz. Her post dominance beat out the Vandals’ 3-point shooting in a delirious back-and-forth festival of highlights in Missoula.
“I think I just wanted to do my part,” Henderson said. “I wanted to show our team that we all have a role in winning the game, and I just wanted to go do my part. … It was a fun one with the girls.”
Taylor Pierce made 8-of-15 3-pointers, many of them from way behind the arc or with a hand in her face, on her way to 28 points for the Vandals. The Big Sky Conference’s all-time leader in 3-pointers made has now made 35 3-pointers in six league games during her senior season. She has hit eight triples in a single game three times. She now has 380 made shots from beyond the arc in her unbelievable career.
Idaho senior Taylor Pierce hit eight 3-pointers at Montana State nine days ago and hit eight more at Montana on Saturday/ by Brooks Nuanez
The Carlsbad, California native sunk a ridiculous triple from just a few steps inside half court with 31 seconds left to cut the Montana lead to two. But, after Henderson made one of two free throws on the ensuing possession for Montana, the Lady Griz forced the ball out of Pierce’s hands. UM guard Sammy Fatkin locked down Idaho star Mikayla Ferenz, forcing the Big Sky preseason MVP guard into a wild airball with 12 seconds left and effectively sealing UM’s win over the preseason league favorites.
The Vandals wouldn’t get within a single possession again until the final buzzer, when Gina Marxen swished a meaningless running heave from half court to appropriately cap a wild game.
The victory was an important one for the Lady Griz, who came in on a three-game losing streak that dropped them to 3-3 in Big Sky Conference play.
Idaho came in at 4-1 in conference behind Pierce and Ferenz, two of the best scorers in Big Sky history. The duo combined to hit 14 3-pointers and score 52 points in UI’s 82-66 win in Bozeman nine days ago.
Saturday, Montana set the tone quickly. A layup from Fatkin, an Arizona transfer making her first college start, and a 3-pointer by Emma Stockholm gave the Lady Griz an early lead that they held for the whole first quarter.
UM third-year head coach Shannon Schweyen started off in man-to-man with McKenzie Johnston on Pierce and Fatkin on Ferenz. Those matchups, along with some high-energy defense from the whole Montana team, slowed the Idaho stars early. Pierce had three points and Ferenz just two in the opening quarter as Montana took a 17-15 lead to the first break.
“They’re great shooters, so we just said hands up, in their face, don’t let them shoot,” said Fatkin after the Lady Griz limited the ‘Splash Sisters’ to 10-of-25 shooting from distance. “We’d rather give up a layup than a 3 to a team like this. … I love tough defensive assignments. It was awesome to be able to compete against a guard like [Ferenz]. I respect her game a lot, so it felt good.”
The two broke out early in the second quarter. Pierce’s second 3 to start the quarter gave Idaho its first lead of the game, and Ferenz followed with two push floaters in transition to push the Vandal lead to five, their largest of the game.
That’s when Henderson took over. After scoring four points in the first quarter, she singlehandedly brought the Lady Griz back even with five quick points, kicking off a 10-0 run for Montana.
Later in the second, she scored on back-to-back possessions in the post to push Montana’s lead to seven.
Montana forward Jace Henderson (24)/by Brooks Nuanez
“[Henderson] is a load down in the post, and she’s a good passer on top of it, so it’s like, if you double her, she’s going to find people still,” Shannon Schweyen said. “She just has great touch down there, a good awareness of where the double is coming from … and she made all of those ones count in the paint.”
The Lady Griz led 40-36 at the half, setting up an incredible second half.
With Sophia Stiles and Madi Schoening out for the season and Taylor Goligoski and Katie Mayhue out for the game, the Lady Griz played almost the entire second half with the same five players — Henderson, Stockholm, Harrington, Johnston and Fatkin.
“This is the third year in a row we’ve had some devastating injuries, but we have to make the most of what we’ve got and move forward,” Schweyen said. “We didn’t go real deep in the bench tonight because that group was doing a really good job out there defensively.”
Pierce, Ferenz, and Pierce again hit 3-pointers on three straight possessions midway through the third quarter to give the Vandals a four-point lead — Pierce made four of her eight 3s in the period — but Fatkin, who had 19 on just nine shots, drilled a triple at the other end.
“I think the confidence came from the coaches, my teammates, everyone just said, ‘Shoot the ball, kid,’” said Fatkin, who made 3-of-4 3-point attempts. “They gave me the confidence and I’m going with it.”
Pierce capped the quarter with a buzzer-beating triple, sending the game to the fourth quarter tied at 60-60.
Another 3-pointer from her gave Idaho a 71-69 lead with 3:31 left, but Henderson scored inside on the next possession to tie it and two free throws from Gabi Harrington gave Montana the lead.
Montana forward Jace Henderson (24)/by Brooks Nuanez
Pierce tied it again on a running bank jumper, but that just set the stage for Henderson’s clinching and-1.
“I’m a little bit undersized in the post, so I need to work on my footwork,” Henderson said. “That [move] was from a lot of time in the gym, a lot of great coaches that I’ve had that taught me to go around people, and so I tried to use that to my best ability. … They had taken the ball away from me the last play and I knew I was going to get some contact, so I just wanted to go in there strong.”
The 31 points was a career-high for Henderson, who played 38 minutes. Johnston played all 40 for the Lady Griz.
Ferenz backed up Pierce with 20 points of her own, and Fairfield native Lizzie Klinker had 14 for the Vandals.
Stockholm and Harrington were both in double figures for the Lady Griz, with 11 and 10 points respectively, and Harrington added 11 rebounds for a double-double.
The Lady Griz will play their next five games on the road, starting Thursday against Idaho State in Pocatello at 7 p.m.
Idaho returns home to host Sacramento State, also on Thursday.
Photos by Brooks Nuanez. All Rights Reserved.
