THE MATCHUP
Montana has been riding a roller coast the last few weeks, from beating Weber State 61-59 on a Sophia Stiles buzzer-beater in Missoula to losing to defending Big Sky Conference champion Idaho State two days later, losing senior guard Sammy Fatkin in the process to an ankle injury. Without Fatkin, the Lady Griz beat Southern Utah 69-64 the following Monday and thought they had Northern Arizona beat on another Stiles buzzer-beater. Instead, Khiarica Rasheed hit a shot at the buzzer and was fouled, converting the free throw to live NAU to a 60-59 win.
Montana then lost to previously struggling Eastern Washington 63-57 (EWU went on to beat Montana State in Bozeman three days later) and needed every bit of the cleanse provided by beating Idaho 76-73 on Thursday in Missoula.
Portland State entered Saturday’s game at the Stott Center in the City of Roses with zero Big Sky wins in 13 conference outings.
THE RESULT
Five Lady Griz scored at least eight points and Montana breezed to a 76-55 win despite Fatkin, UM’s leading scorer and offensive catalyst, her fifth straight game.
The win moves Montana to 9-6 in league play and 16-8 overall. In Chelsea Gregg’s first season as head coach, Portland State is now 0-14 in league play, 5-17 overall.
BIG SKY SCORES SATURDAY JANUARY 19, 2022
| Away | Home | Where | |
|---|---|---|---|
 Idaho79 |  Eastern Washington72 | Cheney, Wash. (Conf.) | Box Score |
 Southern Utah47 |  Montana State65 | BOZEMAN (Conf.) | Box Score |
 Weber State55 |  Northern Colorado60 | Greeley, Colo. (Conf.) | Box Score |
 Idaho State67 |  Sacramento State56 | Sacramento, California (Conf.) | Box Score |
 Montana76 |  Portland State55 | Portland, Ore. (Conf.) | Box Score |
THE STANDOUTS
Carmen Gfeller led a balanced Lady Griz scoring attack with 16 points on 7 of 10 shooting. Senior center Abby Anderson added 12 points and dished out a career-high eight assists as the Lady Griz dished out 22 dimes against Portland State’s zone defense.
Montana shot 54 percent (30-of-56) from the floor overall and went 7-of-18 from beyond the arc. Stiles had 12 points on 4-of-12 while Gfeller, Anderson (5-of-7), Nyah Morris-Nelson (3-of-4 from 3, 9 points), Dani Bartsch and Katerina Tsineke (eight points each) combined to shoot 25-of-36 from the floor (69.4 percent) as Montana moved to 7-6 this calendar year.
Mia ‘Uhila came off the bench to score 15 points for Portland State.
BIG SKY STANDINGS
| SCHOOL | CONF | PCT | OVERALL | PCT | HOME | AWAY | NEUTRAL | STREAK |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Idaho State | 13-4 | 0.765 | 17-9 | 0.654 | 10-1 | 7-6 | 0-2 | W1 |
| Montana State | 12-4 | 0.750 | 17-10 | 0.630 | 13-2 | 4-7 | 0-1 | W1 |
| Southern Utah | 11-5 | 0.688 | 15-10 | 0.600 | 7-4 | 8-6 | 0-0 | L1 |
| Montana | 9-6 | 0.600 | 16-8 | 0.667 | 10-3 | 4-5 | 2-0 | W2 |
| Northern Arizona | 9-6 | 0.600 | 12-11 | 0.522 | 7-6 | 5-5 | 0-0 | W1 |
| Sacramento State | 9-7 | 0.563 | 13-12 | 0.520 | 6-5 | 6-6 | 1-1 | L2 |
| Northern Colorado | 7-9 | 0.438 | 11-13 | 0.458 | 7-4 | 4-9 | 0-0 | W2 |
| Idaho | 6-8 | 0.429 | 7-16 | 0.304 | 4-5 | 3-6 | 0-5 | W1 |
| Eastern Washington | 5-11 | 0.313 | 7-18 | 0.280 | 5-8 | 2-9 | 0-1 | L1 |
| Weber State | 5-12 | 0.294 | 9-17 | 0.346 | 7-6 | 2-11 | 0-0 | L1 |
| Portland State | 0-15 | 0.000 | 5-18 | 0.217 | 4-9 | 0-9 | 1-0 | L13 |
BOX SCORE
SOCIAL
WHAT’S NEXT
Montana plays Idaho on Monday in Moscow. The Lady Griz beat the Vandals 76-73 in a game with 21 lead changes and 14 ties Thursday in Missoula. Saturday, the Vandals beat Eastern Washington 79-72.
