Game Recap

Lady Griz bounce back, take down Portland State

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Two days after allowing Portland State to steal a victory that the Lady Griz had within reach, the Montana women’s basketball team made sure there would be no last-minute dramatics.

Led by Carmen Gfeller, Montana put up 20 first-quarter points and never trailed, defeating the Vikings 76-63 at Dahlberg Arena in Missoula on Saturday afternoon.

Gfeller, who was saddled with foul trouble on Thursday and played limited minutes, put an emphatic stamp on the rematch, going for 19 points on 9-of-12 shooting.

She had eight in the opening period, 12 by half, most coming on strong, aggressive takes to the basket.

“It helps when one of the best shooters in the Big Sky is on the floor,” joked interim head coach Mike Petrino. “We’re a much better team when we have her out there.

“She is such a great competitor and so committed to this team. I had no doubt in my mind she was going to play well today. None.”

On this day, Gfeller was just a microcosm of the team’s overall performance, maybe its best since winning at Northern Arizona last month.

Montana interim head coach Mike Petrino in 2021/by Brooks Nuanez

Montana shot 51.6 percent and shared the ball to a season-high 23 assists.

It came less than 48 hours after Thursday’s 61-60 loss in Missoula. Montana led throughout but never could put Portland State away. That proved costly when Kylie Jimenez scored the game-winning basket with 2.3 seconds left.

“I’m really proud of how resilient this group is,” said Petrino. “Like every team that goes through the year, you have your challenges and adversity, and Thursday was really hard.”

What Montana had going for it coming out of Thursday’s game was that the Lady Griz had put themselves in position to win.

They held the Vikings to 30.9 percent shooting and created 38 shots in the paint for themselves, which nine out of 10 times means a victory will follow.

“It wasn’t about reinventing the wheel. It was just finishing the plays we were getting. We got good shots on Thursday. We just didn’t finish them,” said Petrino.

Portland State guard Kylie Jimenez (3) in 2020/by Brooks Nuanez

“I just love how much these players care. We want to be our best and play our best. I’m proud of how we bounced back from the heartbreak of that one. When we stay focused and have that energy and competitive spirit, this team shows great upside.”

Montana was better offensively on Saturday than Thursday. But there were other elements that came into play as well.

After getting to the line 28 times on Thursday, the Vikings attempted just eight free throws on Saturday, which highlighted Montana’s between-game improvements at defending Portland State.

Most notable was the work they did on Desirae Hansen, who scorched Montana for 22 points on Thursday, 18 in the second half to spark PSU’s comeback that was more of a lingering around and making a big play at the end than a huge rally from a big deficit.

She had just eight on Saturday on 3-of-11 shooting in 36 relatively quiet minutes.

Montana guard Nyah Morris-Nelson (1) in 2021/by Brooks Nuanez

“It takes multiple people to guard a great player like that. Rotating Madi and Nyah (Morris-Nelson) on her was valuable to slowing her down. We just wanted to make it hard for her, and we did that,” said Petrino.

In addition to Gfeller’s 19, Thurmon’s 15 and Frohlich’s dozen, Anderson had a full line of 12 points, eight rebounds, seven assists and three blocked shots.

“When you have four players in double figures, 23 assists on 32 baskets, I’m really proud of the way we shared the ball against a very good zone,” said Petrino.

Montana (8-7, 5-5 BSC) will play two games next week at Weber State (0-13, 0-10 BSC) before closing the regular season with series against Eastern Washington, Idaho State and Idaho.

Press release courtesy of Joel Carlson – Griz Communications.

Photos by Brooks Nuanez. All Rights Reserved.

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